I Left My Heart In Mystic Falls
by A Lost Diadem
Summary: Elena Gilbert is ready to start a new chapter in her life as she goes off to college in New York City, but will it be as great as she expects it to be?
1. Chapter 1

_Buildings with a hundred floors_  
><em>Swinging around revolving doors<em>  
><em>Maybe I don't know where they'll take me<em>  
><em>But gotta keep moving on, moving on<em>  
><em>Fly away, breakaway <em>  
>-Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway<p>

* * *

><p>"Elena, the pizza's here."<p>

Elena Gilbert threw the acceptance letter to Hunter College back into her drawer. Looking up she saw Jeremy standing in the doorway. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him a small smile. "I'll be right down, Jer."

He stuck his thumb up at her before he turned around and jogged back down the stairs, yelling at Alaric about some video game. When Elena was sure that he was back downstairs, she opened her drawer and took the acceptance letter out.

College was something Elena hadn't thought about since before her entire life flipped upside down. Thinking about college and what she wanted to do with her life never seemed to fit into her agenda of running from the various supernatural beings that seemed to chase her everywhere she went. Once she had started her senior year and slowly began to give up hope of ever finding Stefan, Elena focused on what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Soon she was keeping herself busy with college fairs, applications, essays, tests, and other senior activities.

Now here she was, staring at one of the many acceptance letters from the colleges that she applied to. The campus was located in Manhattan, so she would have to leave Mystic Falls and dorm. It was a decision she knew wouldn't make her friends and family happy, but she felt as if it was time to get away from Mystic Falls for a little bit.

"Elena hurry up or we'll eat this entire pizza pie by ourselves!" Alaric shouted up the stairs.

Elena put the acceptance letter back into her drawer again before walking out of her room. She walked down the stairs and into the dining room to take a seat at the table.

"What took you so long?" Alaric asked. As he asked, he cut a slice of pizza for her and placed it on her plate.

She smiled in gratitude and pulled the plate closer to her. "I was looking at some acceptance letters I was sent," she explained.

Jeremy looked at her, "Elena you haven't said anything about getting accepted to any colleges."

"But it's still great that you got in. We had no doubt that you would make it," Alaric gave her a smile, "What's the verdict, then? Where are you going?"

"I decided to go to Hunter to major in creative writing." Elena said as she looked down at her pizza. She took a small bite before putting it back on the plate.

"Hunter? But that's in New York," Jeremy said, "You're going to New York?"

Elena nodded.

Her old history teacher/guardian cleared his throat, "Wow. That's a pretty big decision but if that's what you want, then go for it."

"I just think it's time to leave Mystic Falls for a little," Elena looked between Alaric and Jeremy, "I know it's been a quiet year here, but I need to get out there and see other things. It's not like Stefan's coming back. Nothing is holding me back."

A moment of silence passed between the three. Jeremy ended it by leaning over the table and taking his hand in hers, "I think you should go. You deserve this, Elena. Don't let anything hold you back."

Elena gave him a smile and squeezed his hand, "Thank you, Jeremy. I'll be back here for holidays, maybe even sometimes on the weekends. I'm not going to disappear off the face of the Earth."

Alaric gave her another smile, "Your Aunt would be so proud of you."

She nodded and her eyes watered at the mention of her Aunt Jenna. She could only imagine her reaction if she were here. The thought made her laugh. "I will not cry," she told herself, "Let's eat."

They finished dinner talking about various things, mainly Elena's decision to go to New York for college. After dinner was over, Elena jogged back upstairs to grab her bag. When she went back downstairs, Jeremy asked where she was going.

"I'm going to Caroline's for movie night. I would tell you to come along, but tonight's choice is a chick flick."

"I'll pass. Ric and I are going to stay here and do manly things."

Elena laughed at her little brother, "Have fun with that. I'll see you guys later."

She walked out of her house and over to her car. Soon she was driving over to Caroline's. During the car ride, she wondered how she would break the news to her two friends and then another person floated into her mind.

Damon Salvatore.

She couldn't help but wonder how he would react to the news of her leaving Mystic Falls. Would he be happy? Would he be mad? Would he be sad? Would he insist on following her? Elena didn't know. He would be the hardest to telling her opinion and she didn't look forward to it.

Elena parked outside of Caroline's house behind Bonnie. Because she thought of how she would tell Damon she was going to Manhattan, she hadn't thought of how she would tell Bonnie and Caroline. As she rang the doorbell and waited for one of them to answer, Elena decided to wing it.

"Hello Ms. Gilbert!" Caroline shouted with a smile. She pulled Elena into her house and closed the door behind her, already in overdrive for the night's events, "Bonnie brought over all of the food so we don't have to worry about anything! Tyler will not be coming over and neither will Jeremy or Damon. This is strictly an all girl's night!"

"Caroline why would Damon be here anyway?" Elena asked.

"Because when isn't Damon at an event that you're at?" The blonde vampire smiled at her friend.

Elena sighed, but decided to ignore the comment made and ask about Bonnie, "Where is she anyway?"

"In the kitchen!"

Elena and Caroline walked into the kitchen where Bonnie was pouring chips into individual bowls. The witch stopped to hug her friend quickly with a smile, "Hey Elena."

Elena took a chip from the bowl and tossed it into her mouth, chewing quickly. "What chick flick will we be watching tonight?" she asked.

Caroline picked up a DVD case off of the counter and held it in front of her face.

"Love and Other Drugs," Elena read, "Excellent choice."

"That's what I said," Bonnie smiled, "Jake Gyllenhaal is naked for almost the entire movie. It's great!"

The three girls laughed but Elena stopped. She knew she had to tell them she was leaving next week for college. It was something that had to be done. She cleared her throat before beginning, "Guys I have something to tell you before we out the movie on."

Bonnie and Caroline looked at their friend in concern.

"Is everything okay?" Caroline asked.

"Everything is great!" Elena exclaimed, "Nothing has tried to kill me in the past year. We made it through senior year without anything happening. I got accepted into Hunter College in Manhattan."

"Holy shit. Elena that's great!" Bonnie smiled at her friend, "Are you going to go?"

Elena nodded, "Yeah, I am. It's a great school and I think it would be good to get out of Mystic Falls."

Caroline frowned, "You're leaving us?"

"She's not leaving us, Caroline. She'll be back for holidays. Right?" Bonnie looked at Elena for confirmation on that.

"Yes. I will definitely be back here for every single holiday. Not only that but I'll try and make it during the weekends here and there, and you both can come up to visit me during the weekends anytime you want." She offered Caroline a comforting smile.

"Well…it's not the worst thing that could happen. You could be going to college in a different country. We all can't stay in Mystic Falls forever." Caroline said, "Have you told Damon?"

Elena shook her head.

Bonnie bit her lower lip when Elena shook her head. "He's not going to be happy, Elena," she said.

"He'll deal with it. I can't stay in Mystic Falls forever. I need to get out of this town. I love it here, this is my home, but it gets to be too much," Elena shook her head, "Enough of this talk. Let's go eat all of this awesome junk food and watch Jake Gyllenhaal run around on screen naked."

Caroline and Bonnie laughed, agreeing with their friend. Each of them took two bowls of chips and candy each, Caroline carrying the movie, and walked into the living room to start their movie night. Elena would worry about telling Damon tomorrow. For the night, she was going to enjoy herself like she should have been doing.

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><p>Hello! This is my new fan fiction and I really hope you all enjoy it. Chapters will be posted weekly, unless something happens. I'd appreciate it if you left a review letting me know what you thought of the chapter. :)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

_And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket  
>But I've got to get a move on with my life<br>It's time to be a big girl now and big girls don't cry  
><em>-Fergie, Big Girls Don't Cry

* * *

><p>Movie night had gone by too fast for Elena's liking. It was one of the best movie nights they had ever had and she didn't want it to end. It did, though, and now she was getting ready to go to the Boarding House to talk to Damon. Elena knew it would be hard to tell him she was leaving, but she knew it had to be done soon.<p>

She picked up her iPhone and dialed Damon's number. Holding the phone to her ear, she waited for him to answer.

"You know who this is. Leave a message." His voicemail greeting played.

"Damon it's Elena. I have to talk to you about something. I'll be over in twenty minutes. See you soon."

She ended the call and slipped her phone into her bag.

"Hey," Jeremy said to her. He stood in her doorway, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to talk to Damon."

"Are you telling him that you're leaving?"

"I plan on it. I can't leave without telling him. He'd be crushed, Jer."

Jeremy nodded his head and agreed with her. He knew Damon would be crushed either way. Even though he wouldn't be there when Elena tells him she was going to New York, Jeremy could see his reaction clearly. He wished her good luck before jogging down the stairs and out of the front door to go meet up with Bonnie.

Five minutes after Jeremy left, Elena left to drive over to the Boarding House. She still had not the slightest clue how she was going to tell Damon. Part of her thought it would be better to tell him right away, as if she were ripping off a band-aid, but another part of her thought to wait a while before telling him. Her thoughts distracted her during the car ride and soon she was pulling up to the house. She looked up at the house through her window with a frown.

"You have to do this Elena. It'll be okay," she spoke to herself. She took a deep breath before stepping out of her car.

At the Boarding House, the front door was always unlocked. All she had to do was push it open, which is what she did. When she opened the door, she heard music coming from upstairs. After closing the front door she walked up the stairs and towards Damon's room, the music getting louder and louder.

Damon heard her the moment she pulled up in front of the house. He had no idea it was that she had to do, but he knew that she would tell him in due time. He could hear her open the front door and when he heard her coming down the hall, he sat up from his bed.

"Hello Elena," he greeted her.

Elena tucked her hair behind her ears and gave him a small smile, "Hey."

He grabbed the stereo remote and shut it off, noticing how relieved Elena looked to be rid of the loud music. "What's up with the random visit?"

She took a few more steps into his room with her hands in her pockets. "I just wanted to…to spend the day with you."

Damon was surprised. This was new for Elena. She never showed up at his house just to spend the day with him. "What's going on, Elena?"

"What do you mean what's going on?"

"I mean what's going on to have you show up here randomly? You never do this."

Elena shook her head, "Damon, everything is fine. I haven't seen you in a while so I decided to stop by."

"Elena you saw me a few days ago when I spent the day in your living room with Ric and Jeremy. Remember? We played that zombie game and you made fun of us the entire time," Damon smirked at her.

She could have groaned in frustration as he caught her, but she didn't. Instead she shrugged her shoulders, "So? Come on, let's just hang out. We can go for a walk or go get a bite to eat."

When an even bigger smirk crossed his face, she rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean that kind of bite, Damon."

"Oh, sorry. You have to be more specific with me. I am a vampire you know. Why don't I just cook something? I don't want to go anywhere today. It's supposed to rain."

"Is the big bad vampire afraid of a little water?" Elena teased him with a grin.

"Shut up and answer my question or I'll cook for me, myself, and I."

"You cooking is a better idea than us going out," She stood behind him and pushed him out of the door, which proved to be a challenge.

"Having trouble, Elena?"

She didn't need to look at his face to see that he was enjoying her struggle to push him out of the door. She finally gave up and when he gave her a smug look she shouted, "Oh just walk yourself to the kitchen and start cooking!"

Damon laughed and walked to the kitchen, Elena following him.

"What'll it be today, Chef?" Elena asked.

Damon rummaged through the refrigerator and cabinets. "No clue," he said honestly, "I hope you realize that if it weren't for you, there would be no food in this house."

"I feel special. Now start cooking."

"My, aren't we demanding today!" He grabbed a pot and filled it with water before putting it on the stove so he could boil it. He turned to look at her as he slung a hand towel over his shoulder, "Will spaghetti and meatballs be satisfying, Ms. Gilbert?"

"It sounds good to me," Elena said with a small smile.

Damon returned the smile and went back to preparing the meal. He had to get the mixture together for the meatballs before rolling the mixture into meatballs, and he had to get the pasta out so he could place it in the pot when the water boiled. As he worked his way around the kitchen, Elena watched him in silence. When she realized she still had to tell him she was leaving, she frowned.

"You're really quiet."

Elena snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Damon, "I'm just tired.

"Sure you are," he said, "When are you going to tell me why you really came here?"

"There is no reason, Damon. I wanted to come over to hang out. What's so hard to believe about that?"

"Well, it may have something to with the fact that you've never looked to just hang out. In the past you've come over to yell at me, hit me, receive some sort of comfort, talk about all of the usual Mystic Falls occurrences such as vampire attacks, or to talk about my brother."

Elena looked at the floor and frowned.

"What is it Elena? Just tell me. You know you can trust me."

She looked up at him and saw that he was looking at her with concern. She offered him a reassuring smile, "Let's just eat and then we'll talk about it, okay?"

He nodded and went back to cooking. They made small talk while he finished cooking the meal and while they ate. They gossiped a little bit, talked about their friends, and Damon explained to Elena that he was trying to get Alaric a lady friend.

"Alaric needs a woman in his life. I can't let him get boring. A boring Alaric is horrible," Damon complained to Elena.

Elena laughed slightly as she twirled her pasta around with her fork. Damon could tell that whatever she had to do was bothering her. He took a sip of wine from his glass and placed it on the table.

"Elena, just tell me what you need to tell me. Since you walked into the house I could tell something was bothering you." He leant over the table and hesitantly placed his hand over hers to show her that he was there for her.

"Damon, do you remember when I was applying to all of those colleges?"

"How could I not? You were even more boring than you usually are. No offence," he smiled at her.

Elena ignored his comment and looked down at his hand that was resting on hers. It made everything ten times harder than it already was. She sighed, "I've gotten acceptance letters to quite a few and after thinking about it, I've finally made a decision on where I'm going."

The raven-haired vampire sat back in his chair, not liking where this conversation was going. "Where is the school, Elena?" he asked.

"It's in New York City."

"New York City?" Damon repeated.

She nodded.

He pulled his hand away from hers and stood up, taking ten steps away from the table.

"I know it's far but I'll be back during the holidays and if I can manage it, I'll try to come back every once in a while during the weekends," Elena explained to him, "It won't be that bad."

"I'll go to New York with you," Damon said, "I won't go to college, because college is boring and I'm done with school, but I'll get an apartment somewhere. Hell, you can live with me so you don't have to worry about getting a shitty roommate in the dorms."

Elena shook her head. She knew this would happen. "Damon, you don't get it," she said sadly, "I'm going by myself. It's time I left Mystic Falls."

"Why? Why do you need to leave Mystic Falls? Everyone who loves you is here," he asked angrily.

"I can't stay in Mystic Falls for the rest of my life, Damon. I need to get out there eventually and see things, and there's no better time than now. There is no one or nothing trying to kill me whenever I step around the corner and it's not like I'm waiting for Stefan to come back. You said it yourself; he's never coming back. It's time I moved on."

Damon didn't answer her. He turned his back on her so she wouldn't see how angry her words were getting him. She was leaving him here in Mystic Falls when she's the only reason he stayed, and she wasn't even letting him go to New York with her. It hurt him. It hurt him a lot.

Elena stood up and stepped towards Damon. She reached out to touch his shoulder but flinched when he pulled it away. "Damon, please understand that I need to do this," she pleaded.

"Elena I think it'd best if you leave."

"Damon…"

"Leave, Elena." He said coldly.

Elena nodded and held back her tears. With her head up high, she grabbed her bag and walked over to the front door. She opened it but before leaving, turned around to take one more look at Damon. She said, "I'm so sorry, Damon."

He gave her no response. Elena walked out and closed the door behind her, the tears falling as soon as she did. As she sat outside crying, Damon was inside throwing his glass into the roaring fire. Things would never be the same for him in Mystic Falls.

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><p>I'm so happy so many of you added this story to your story alert list! I hope you liked Chapter 2. :) Let me know in a review!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

_As I'm leaving  
>A change comes on my eyes<br>These streets persuading me  
>With mumbled strange goodbyes.<br>-_David Gray, As I'm Leaving

* * *

><p>It was the day she was leaving Mystic Falls. Her bags were packed and the last thing she had to do was say her final goodbyes.<p>

Alaric took a step into her bedroom. "Do you have everything packed?" he asked her.

She nodded and pointed to her bags. "It's all there."

He walked over to the bags and picked up two in each hand, leaving two left for Elena to bring out to her car. Before picking up the bags, she took one last look around her room. Her mirror was clear of all of the pictures she had. Her bed was stripped of its sheets. Her closet and drawers were almost all empty. One thing was left sitting on her dresser and Elena walked over to it slowly. She picked up the locket Stefan had given her gently and looked down at it. She hadn't worn it in months and decided to leave it behind. Elena didn't think she would need it in New York and placed it back on her dresser.

She grabbed her two bags and walked out of her house. Bonnie, Jeremy, Tyler, Caroline, Matt, and Alaric were standing by her car talking to each other. Elena felt disappointed when realized Damon wasn't there.

"Is it too late to ask you if I can go with you?" Caroline smiled.

Elena laughed. "Yes. Even if it wasn't, I think Tyler would get upset if you left him."

Tyler shrugged his shoulders with a grin and took Elena's bags from her to put them in the trunk of her car.

"You need to call us as soon as you get settled into your dorm room," Bonnie addressed Elena before giving her a hug. "I'll miss you so much."

She hugged her friend back and pulled away with a smile. "I will call every single one of you when I'm settled."

One by one she hugged her friends and bid her goodbyes. She promised them all that she would keep in touch and that she would be back for Thanksgiving.

Soon after her goodbyes, she got into her car and drove away.

Before Elena knew it, she was passing the sign letting her know that she was leaving Mystic Falls. It stopped her for a brief moment. Elena pulled over to the side of the road to take a moment to herself. So many thoughts were running through her head? What if Damon was really mad at her? What if things didn't work out and she wouldn't get the chance to come back home for holidays? What if Stefan came back while she was gone? What if she made a mistake? It all came down to what Elena knew. Elena knew she had to get out of Mystic Falls. Elena knew that if things didn't work out in the city, she could always go back to Mystic Falls and attend college there.

"The car only works when you drive, you know."

Elena let out a tiny scream. When she looked out of her window, she saw Damon standing there with a smirk on his face. She pushed the door open and slammed it shut behind her. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I decided to take a walk. What are _you _doing?"

"I am on my way to Manhattan."

"Doesn't look like it," he smirked.

Elena put her hands into her pockets and leaned back against her car. "I was until you decided to show up."

"What? Can't a guy say goodbye to his friend that's leaving him?" Damon bantered.

Elena had nothing to say to him. She couldn't think of anything that wouldn't cause a fight, and fighting with Damon was the last thing she wanted to do before she left him in Mystic Falls. Instead of saying something, she stepped over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Hugging Elena wasn't a weird occurrence. It was almost an instinct to wrap his arms around her small body as soon as she hugged him. When wrapped in each other's embrace, it was the only time Damon felt he could protect her from anything. He held her close to him, savoring the moment, not knowing when he would get to hold her like this.

"I'll miss you," Elena whispered.

Damon pulled away from the hug and caressed her face. He leant in and kissed her forehead gently. Elena's eyes closed slowly as she felt his cool lips touch her forehead.

When her eyes fluttered open, he was gone.

Elena stood there for another minute, holding on to the warmth she still felt from how Damon held her. He didn't say he would miss her, but Elena knew he would. All of his feelings were put into the hug and it was enough to make her feel like she was making a big mistake leaving Mystic Falls. Once she calmed herself down, Elena got back into her car and started to drive to New York again.

The drive was a long and exhausting one. Her head was filled with thoughts of Damon the entire time, and how she already missed him. Elena missed his tiny comments that frustrated her but made her happy at the same time. Elena missed his hugs. Elena missed the comfort she felt around him. Elena even missed his smirk. She couldn't help but think that the car ride to New York would have been bearable if he was with her. It would have been another great road trip.

By the time Elena reached Manhattan, night had fallen. She was so tired that she couldn't even appreciate the beautiful buildings and city sights. All she could appreciate was the bed she would soon be laying in. Elena found a parking spot near the dorms for Hunter College quickly. She only brought one bag into the building with her, deciding to leave the others in the car until tomorrow.

"Hi. My name's Elena Gilbert. I'm here to check into my dorm room," Elena announced to the woman at the front desk.

The woman gave Elena no smile and quickly muttered the room number that Elena was staying in. Elena thanked her, even though she shouldn't have, and dragged her bag up the stairs to the second floor. There were girls filling the hallways. Most were conversing with each other. Others were dragging their bags into their rooms or decorating their dorm's door. Elena pushed her way carefully through the girls and found her room. There was already a sign on it that read, "Kelly and Rebecca's room". Elena guessed that they were the names of her roommates. She slipped the key into the door and pushed it open.

"Hello?" Elena asked.

A girl who looked to be about Elena's age looked up from her laptop and smiled. "Hi! You must be the other roommate."

Elena walked into the room and waved. "Yeah. My name is Elena," she introduced herself.

The girl closed her laptop and stood up. Walking over to Elena, she held her hand out. "I'm Kelly. I hope you don't mind but Rebecca and I took the bunk beds. There is an awesome looking twin sized bed that has your name written all over it, though."

"I don't mind at all. Bunk beds aren't my thing," Elena said.

Another girl poked her head over the side of the top bunk bed and waved down at Elena. "I'm Rebecca!" she shouted.

Elena waved back at her and laughed a little. She walked over to her bed and placed her bag next to it.

"Don't mind us. Rebecca and I are writers, so you'll see us on our laptops often. I promise you we are not noisy and horrible dorm mates. We aren't into the whole party scene that much," Kelly proclaimed.

"Don't get her wrong. We love to party," Rebecca added. "We just don't get wasted and write on each other's faces."

Kelly nodded before crawling back into her bed. "You look really tired. You should get some sleep. We'll be really quiet. It'll be like we aren't even here."

Elena smiled at them gratefully and thanked you. "It's been a long day. I'll talk to you two tomorrow." She kicked her shoes off and got under the blankets. Before falling asleep, Elena sent a quick text message to Caroline telling her that she had gotten to the college. She made sure to tell Caroline to tell the others that she was alright and that she would talk to them tomorrow. Kelly and Rebecca both wished her a good night and Elena did the same to them before placing her head on the pillow and falling into a much needed deep sleep.

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><p>Merry Christmas everyone! This chapter is my gift to you. I hope you liked it. :)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

_Sing to me one song for joy and one for redemption  
><em>_And whatever's in between that I call mine  
><em>_With the street lamplight to illuminate the grey  
><em>_And the bells of New York City calling me to stay.  
><em>-Josh Groban, Bells of New York City

* * *

><p>Elena was getting along with her roommates. The day after she moved in was spent getting to know each other. Elena told them she was from a small town where everyone knew everyone's business and that it got quite boring there. What Kelly and Rebecca didn't know was that it was far from boring and happened to be filled with all sorts of supernatural creatures. That little factor wasn't something you spread around. Elena found out that Kelly was from upstate New York while Rebecca was from Tennessee, both aspiring to be writers just like Elena was. They had similar schedules, which was a plus for all of them.<p>

Soon it was the first day of classes. It went by fast and before they knew it, Elena and her two new friends were sitting in their last class of the day: Creative Writing. Kelly and Rebecca were talking to someone else in class while Elena looked at her phone. She had gotten a couple of text messages from Caroline, Bonnie, Jeremy, and one from Damon. Only Damon's message stood out to her and that's the one she couldn't stop reading.

"I forgot how boring this town was without you."

She had been thinking of a reply for over an hour now but couldn't find the right words. Damon always left her in the state of having nothing to say.

"Good afternoon class. Good afternoon. Before we begin class I would like you to write one sentence and one sentence only telling me why you are in this class on this day."

Elena looked up at what she assumed was the Professor. He was a middle-aged man with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He was wearing a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of slacks. On his feet was a pair of black all-star converse. Elena couldn't help but chuckle. She opened up her notebook and wrote one sentence. That one sentence read, "I'm here because I want to be a writer."

Five minutes passed before the Professor spoke again. "You should have that one sentence down by now. My name is Professor Nicholas Parker. I have been teaching here at Hunter College for ten years. Why? I love Manhattan, I love teaching, and I love writing. Now it's my turn to hear from you." He pointed to Elena, "What's your name?"

Elena sat up straight in her desk and cleared her throat. "Elena Gilbert, sir."

"Alright, Ms. Gilbert. Read the class your sentence."

"I'm here because I want to be a writer."

He laughed. "Everyone is here because they want to be a writer. That's too bland of an answer. I need details, reasons, explanations. Why do you want to be a writer? Why did you choose this college to pursue your dreams? What do you want to write about?" He picked on another student to read their sentence and Elena sunk down into her seat, slightly embarrassed.

After hearing other sentences, Professor Parker spoke again. "We have two semesters here, which means you all will be working on two major writing projects. Both projects will be worked on in class and outside of class." He looked around the class and moved back and forth. "It isn't going to be something you can come up with at the last minute. You're going to need time to work on this. You're going to need to get your thoughts together and figure out what exactly it is you want to write about. Every so often I will call on you in class to read an excerpt from your work and if you have nothing to read, you'll lose class participation. It has to be interesting and well written. You all look like great writers and I have faith that you will come up with something great. Just don't slack off."

Elena trailed off into her own world of thoughts as students began to ask questions. She had so many things that she could write about, but could she? Could she write about her crazy life in Mystic Falls? She frowned, knowing that writing about Mystic Falls would make her miss it even more and tempt her to go back almost every weekend.

The bell ending class rung and Professor Parker dismissed them all. Elena slung her bag over shoulder and followed Kelly and Rebecca out of the classroom.

"I think most people are going to write about their lives back home unless they're from here or around the city," Kelly said. "I have no idea what I'm going to write about."

"Neither do I," Elena claimed.

"You could write about all of those events you were telling us about," Rebecca suggested to her. "The Miss Mystic Falls pageant could be good."

Elena shrugged her shoulders. "It was nothing but dresses, dinners, events, and dances. I would sound like I was a writer for Seventeen Magazine."

Kelly nodded in agreement as they stepped outside. Elena breathed in the city air and decided that it was time to explore. She let Kelly and Rebecca know that she was going to take a walk and that she would see them back at the door. They said goodbye and went their separate ways.

Elena found herself walking to Central Park and smiled. She always wanted to walk through Central Park. It would be a good opportunity to think about what she could write about.

As she walked through the park, she felt a sense of normalcy. There was no one chasing her, no threatening to kill her, so walks in the park like this were an option. She felt independent with no one watching her every move to make sure she didn't do something or get taken. Though she felt all of that, Elena still missed Mystic Falls and all of the people in it.

She sat down on a bench and took out her phone so she could call Bonnie. After a few rings, the witch answered her phone.

"Hey Bonnie," Elena said into the phone.

"Oh my God, Elena. We miss you so much here."

"I miss you too. How is everything?"

"Boring. Caroline and I just left the community college. We hate it. We're considering on doing what you did and going out of state for college," Bonnie laughed. "What about you? How was your first day?"

"You'll miss Mystic Falls if you leave, no matter how boring it is. My first day was pretty good. It's going to be a lot of work but it's nothing that I can't handle. I have this huge writing assignment already and I have no idea what I want to write about."

"Seriously? Elena there is so much you could write about and the best thing is, you could pass it off as fiction and no one would know. No one would believe that you've dealt with vampires, witches, hybrids, and werewolves."

"I don't know if I want to write about all of that though. I came here so I could get away from all of that. Do you know what I mean?" Elena asked.

"I understand."

Elena and Bonnie chatted on the phone for an hour before Bonnie had to go. After they hung up, Elena got back up and continued exploring Central Park. The sense of normalcy she felt was gone, replaced by the feeling of someone watching her. In case someone actually was watching her, she held her head high and acted as if she didn't notice anything.

Forty minutes later, the feeling still had not passed. She was now standing on Bow Bridge by herself. Staring into the sky, she tried to shake off the feeling of being watched but couldn't. She turned her head down towards the water and jumped back in fear. There in the water she saw Stefan's reflection. Elena turned around and saw no one around her. This was enough to cause her to run. She ran and ran. Her legs were burning and her heart was jumping out of her chest, but nothing made her stop. Nothing made her stop until she ran headfirst into someone else. Elena fell to the ground and cursed out in pain.

"You should be more careful."

The fear inside Elena grew when she looked up and saw who she had ran into.

"Stefan."

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><p>Cliffhanger. Don't be mad at me. I'll update the next chapter as soon as I finish writing it.<br>Please leave some reviews :)  
>Happy New Year everyone!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

_How did we get here?  
>Well I used to know you so well<br>How did we get here?  
>Well I think I know<br>_-Paramore, Decode

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><p>Stefan stared down at her with no emotion while she looked up at him in fear.<p>

"Elena…" He reached down to help her up but she crawled away quickly, never taking her eyes off of his.

"You can't be here." Elena claimed. She shook her head in disbelief. He hadn't changed a bit in appearance, but Elena knew he was a completely different person. He was, as Klaus would say, a ripper.

Stefan could see the fear in her eyes and noticed that her vervain locket, the one he gave her, was missing. Elena soon realized it too as his eyes drifted to where the locket used to lay. She took no chances in saying anything else to him. Instead she jumped up and ran in the opposite direction.

"Elena!" Stefan chased after her and cheated, using his vampire speed to stop in front of her.

Elena came to an abrupt stop and screamed.

"Elena just listen to me!" Stefan grabbed her arms. "Just listen!"

She shook her head and shut her eyes tight so he couldn't compel her. She fought her way out of his grip until he let go of her. "Stay away from me!" she yelled at him.

Stefan let her run away with a grim look. He knew it would be difficult to get Elena to talk to him, but he didn't expect her to run away like that. She didn't even do that with Damon after all he had done. Stefan rushed out of the park and back to the temporary apartment he was staying in, already thinking of a Plan B.

While Stefan was racing backing to his hotel, Elena was waving her arm around to get a taxi. She was so close to her dorm, but with Stefan walking around, she didn't feel safe. She had no idea if Klaus was with him or if someone else was. Elena was in an unfamiliar city with no one to protect her. No vervain, no friendly vampires, no witches, no vampire hunters. She had no one and nothing. For once in her life, Elena had no choice but to play it the safe way.

When she was dropped off in front of her dorm, she threw the driver some money and jumped out of the car. Elena walked into the lobby but hesitated at the bottom of the staircase. If she went upstairs, she knew Kelly and Rebecca would ask her questions and notice something was wrong. Elena had to call someone and tell them she ran into Stefan, and she couldn't have her roommates over hearing that conversation, so she stayed in the empty lobby and pulled her phone out. Elena went to call Caroline, but didn't. She went to call Bonnie, but didn't. She found herself scrolling to Damon's name and hitting 'call'. The phone was ringing and Elena waited anxiously to hear his voice.

"Miss me already? New York can't be that boring."

Elena let out a sigh of relief as she felt a sense of comfort. "Damon."

Damon instantly picked up the stress in her voice. Something was off. "What's wrong, Elena?" he asked her.

"Stefan's here. He's here in the city." Elena told him. Her voice was shaking and she realized only then how scared she had been.

"Get the hell out of here. Please tell me you're joking," Damon pleaded.

"I wish I was," she sighed. "I was in Central Park taking a walk. Everything was fine. I had talked to Bonnie on the phone for an hour and felt fine but when I got off I felt like someone was watching me. I kept walking to get rid of the feeling because I figured I was just being paranoid, but then I was standing on Bowery Bridge when I saw his reflection. Then when I took off running, I literally ran straight into him."

Damon let out a breath, his nostrils flaring. Anger built up inside of him. "Did he do anything to you?"

"No. He just kept telling me to listen to him but I ran as fast as I could. I don't think he followed me."

Damon jogged up his stairs and into his bedroom. He grabbed his suitcase and threw it on the bed. "I'm coming to New York."

"No, Damon."

Damon froze, holding the phone in one hand while he had a handful of shirts in the other. "What do you mean no?" he snarled into the phone.

"You aren't coming to New York, Damon. That's it. We had this conversation before I left. Do not come here," Elena commanded him.

"That was before my dear old brother showed up. You aren't safe there, Elena. You don't even have any vervain!"

"I can handle him! I'm not a child!"

"No, Elena. You can't handle him. He's a ripper. That didn't change just because we lost track of his trail. Stefan can kill you in seconds and not even care."

"Maybe he'll go away," Elena thought out loud.

"If you think he's going to go away after seeing you, you're crazy," Damon said.

"I made it clear that I don't want to talk to him."

Damon snorted, "And how many times did you make it clear that you didn't want to talk to me? Did that stop me?"

Elena didn't say anything, knowing that he had a point in what he just said. He was right in this entire situation, but she couldn't tell him that. She was in New York City, in Hunter College, for a reason. Elena needed to get out of Mystic Falls and away from the people who constantly treated her like a child every day of her life. She wasn't going to tell Damon or anyone else to come to New York just because she couldn't deal with Stefan. Elena would carry a stake in her bag for protection, but she would not allow anyone to babysit her.

"Don't come to New York, Damon. I mean it."

"Elena stop being stupid for one second in your life." Damon groaned into the phone. He wondered how he was able to deal with someone as stubborn as her.

"I'm not being stupid. I'm being mature and independent. I don't need you by my side every second to watch over me, Damon. I would expect that from the old Stefan, but not from you."

Those words hit Damon hard and he didn't know how to feel. He did the best thing that he knew how to do. Put his walls up. "Fine. Since you're a big girl now, I'll leave you alone. Have fun with my brother."

Elena cursed, realizing what she had just done. "Damon…"

The phone call had ended.

"Shit!" she screamed. She hit the call button again but it went straight to voicemail. Elena sat in the lobby for another ten minutes, repeatedly calling Damon. Each time it went straight to voicemail. Finally she gave up and dragged herself up the stairs to her room.

She pushed the door open and when she did, Kelly and Rebecca sat up in their beds.

"It's just me. Sorry," Elena apologized quietly.

Kelly nodded and laid back down in her bed. Rebecca didn't and noticed that something was wrong with Elena.

"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked.

Elena went to nod, but shook her head. She was too tired to lie. "I'm just so exhausted. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow."

Rebecca nodded and didn't push her any farther. She wished her a goodnight before laying back down in her bed.

Elena laid in her bed and stared at her phone, praying Damon's name would pop up. It never did though. She ended up falling asleep with tears falling onto her pillow while she held onto her phone, just in case Damon called or messaged her. Part of Elena hoped he would, while the other part knew he wouldn't, and Elena didn't know which one hurt more.

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><p>Another chapter up. Leave some reviews please.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

_Why should I care?  
>Cause you weren't there when I was scared<br>I was so_ alone  
>-Avril Lavigne, Losing Grip<p>

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><p><strong>Two months later…<strong>

It was now November. The warm weather in New York disappeared. Elena had fallen into the school routine to distract herself from everything that was really bothering her. She would wake up, jog around campus, eat, go to class, and then study. In the past two months she didn't see Stefan and didn't hear from Damon. It was as if both Salvatore brothers had disappeared out of her life. Elena didn't know how to feel about it.

Elena walked into her room after her usual Sunday morning jog. She saw Kelly and Rebecca both typing away at their laptops. "What are you guys up to?"

"We're working on Parker's assignment," Kelly answered. "Mine is complete shit right now, but I had to get something down. I don't want to be one of those kids that he calls on in class that have nothing to say."

Elena groaned and sat on her bed. "I totally forgot about that assignment."

Rebecca looked at her. "It'll be easy for you. You have the most eventful lives out of us three."

"Having two brothers fight over you is not eventful."

The morning after her and Damon's fight, Kelly and Rebecca had gotten her to tell them what happened. Elena gave them a toned down version of the story. "I started dating this guy two years ago. A few weeks later his brother came into town. A few months later he fell in love with me. A year ago my boyfriend left and in the process of looking for him, his brother and I got close. Then I left to come here for school to get away from the town and he was mad. I ran into his brother and told him. Now he wants to come to New York because he doesn't trust his brother and I told him no, so he's pissed." That is all Elena had said.

"It is so totally eventful, Elena. You could write an epic love story about your times with both of them and how you struggled to choose a brother!" Kelly exclaimed.

"I did not struggle to choose a brother. I have no feelings in that way for either of them." Elena argued.

"Keep telling yourself that," Rebecca told her.

Elena groaned and grabbed her notebook so she could try to start writing. Kelly and Rebecca fell back into silence. After ten minutes of staring at a blank page, with no ideas in mind, Elena tossed the notebook to the side and left the room to go for another jog. "Maybe if I run," she thought, "I'll get some ideas."

The next day Elena was walking into her creative writing class with a notebook as empty as it was the day she bought it. She had come up with no ideas and knew she was screwed. All she could do was hope that Professor Parker would not call on her that day.

In the back of the classroom she saw a small group crowd around someone. Kelly was one of them. Elena took her usual seat next to Rebecca. "What's going on back there?" she asked with curiousity.

Rebecca shrugged her shoulder. "Some new hot guy joined the class today. Parker will probably introduce him."

Elena narrowed her eyes and looked back. She couldn't see who it was, and he wasn't speaking, so she couldn't hear him. She saw Kelly turn around with a wide smile and when they made eye contact, Kelly rushed over to her.

"Kelly you need to meet this guy. He is one of the hottest guys I have ever met." Kelly grinned.

Before Elena could respond, Professor Parker had walked in and told the class to take their seats. Kelly walked over to her desk next to Rebecca and Elena turned back around, uninterested in whoever the new guy was.

"As you all have noticed," Professor Parker started the class. "We have a new student who has joined us. Make him feel welcome. We're happy to have you here, Stefan."

Elena froze and grabbed her desk. Her knuckles turned white and all air had left her body.

"Thank you, Professor." Stefan smirked.

Elena turned in her seat slowly and stared at him with a look of horror and disbelief. He smiled at her and waved his fingers. The small gesture made her feel sick.

"Elena what's the matter?" Rebecca whispered to her.

She shook her head, refusing to answer.

"Is there something wrong, Ms. Gilbert?"

Elena gulped. "No, Professor."

"Then please do not disrupt my class. How is your writing assignment coming along?" Professor Parker asked.

She looked down at her empty notebook. She wasn't about to lie. She couldn't even think of a good lie. "It's not coming along at all. I have no ideas."

Elena looked up at him and saw disappointment on his face. "That's a shame," he said. "I was looking forward to hearing what you have. All of you, including you, have the potential to be great writers. That's why you are in this class. Don't slack. You have ideas, and one of those is great. You just have to dig deep down into your brain to find that idea. I suggest you figure something out soon, Elena."

She nodded and said she would write something very soon. For the rest of the class she stared down at her notebook. She could feel Stefan's eyes burning holes in the back of her head. Kelly and Rebecca glanced in her direction every once in a while, worried about her.

At the end of class the three girls jumped up and rushed out of class. Elena moved the fastest.

"Elena! Elena wait up!" Kelly shouted.

Elena slowed down enough so her friends could catch up with her.

"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked. "Is it what Parker said?"

"No," Elena shook her head and looked around frantically. "No. It's not what Parker said."

"Then what is it? You're freaking us out," Kelly said.

"It's Stefan. He's the one I dated, and now he's here."

"Get out of here. You dated Stefan?" Kelly drawled.

She nodded and was about to say more, when she felt someone standing behind her.

"Hello, Elena."

Elena closed her eyes and turned around slowly. "Stefan. What are you doing here?"

He held his arms out with a smile. "To learn. That's what college is for. Hello ladies," he waved to the other two.

Kelly and Rebecca took a step back, but didn't leave Elena. Something was off with Stefan and they didn't like the weird vibe he had.

Elena glared at him, "You really shouldn't be here."

Stefan sighed, "I just want to talk. Just give me ten minutes to tell you what I have to say. Please?"

She was going to say no, but part of her was interested in what he had to say. Elena looked back at her friends, who were telling her not to go, and then looked back at the green-eyed vampire. She had no idea what she was doing as she said, "You have ten minutes. Let's go."

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><p>I feel bad that this chapter is short, so I posted Chapter 7 too. Read along!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

_No I can't take one more step towards  
>Cause all that's waiting is regret<br>And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore?  
>You lost the love I loved the most<br>_-Christina Perri, Jar of Hearts

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><p>Stefan had led Elena to a table outside of the cafeteria. He took a seat and looked up at her.<p>

"I'm fine with standing," she said coldly. She gave him an exhausted look. "Why are you here, Stefan? Just answer me that. You disappeared a year ago and we heard nothing from you. Why are you here so randomly?"

"Elena how could I have contacted you? I was with Klaus. Do you remember Klaus? The one who killed you?" He looked up at her. "You have no reason to believe me and you have no reason to trust me, but I need to explain this to you."

Elena didn't budge. She tucked her hair behind her ears and crossed her arms across her chest.

"I'm here now because Klaus is dead."

Her heart stopped beating momentarily. Everything around her seemed to freeze in time. Whether Stefan was telling the truth or not, she didn't know. Klaus was dead.

"How?"

Stefan sighed. "It took a while. When we first left Mystic Falls, he spent that entire summer and fall trying to make more hybrids but they weren't turning out right because-"

"Because I wasn't dead." Elena finished for him.

He nodded with an unreadable expression. He continued on with his story. "I can't begin to tell you how many times I had to convince him not to go back to Mystic Falls. It took a lot and it's a good thing he trusted me so much. December came around. We were in California when he told me had to leave on business. I didn't ask what business he was on. I just let him go. I figured with him gone I could do some research and find a way to get rid of him for good. I got in touch with a few witches, pulled some tricks, and ended up staking Klaus through the heart then watching him burn in the sun."

"But it seemed like Klaus was your best buddy," Elena commented. "Why would you want to get rid of him?"

"Best buddy?" Stefan repeated. "Elena I was being compelled! I couldn't do anything! I tried to get home. I tried so damn hard, but I couldn't lead him to you or Damon. Klaus would have killed all of us and I wasn't going to allow that."

"But you allowed yourself to kill hundreds of innocent people? You allowed yourself to be a ripper?" Elena spat at him.

He was taken aback. He didn't know that she knew that, but that sure did explain why she had been so afraid of him. "How did you know about that?" he asked quietly.

Elena gulped and glared at him, "Damon and I followed the news. You left a trail of bodies up the eastern seaboard, Stefan. Was that Klaus making you do his dirty work or was that all you?"

Stefan had no response and Elena took that as yes. She turned to walk away with nothing else to say but felt a hand wrap around her wrist. He spun her around and looked at her with pleading eyes, "Please don't be afraid of me."

"Let go of me, Stefan."

He shook his head, "Elena, please hear me out."

"Why should I?" she shouted at him.

"Because I love you!" Stefan cried. "You are the only reason I am here right now. I fought for you. I fought every day for the moment to come back to you. I killed Klaus in January and I wanted to come back to you the moment it happened but I knew I had to get the bloodlust in control and that's what I did. I did it all for you, Elena."

Elena stared at him and felt as if she was looking at a stranger. This wasn't the Stefan she had fallen in love with when he came to Mystic Falls. This wasn't the Stefan she had spent so many nights with you in her home and his. This wasn't her Stefan and that brought her to tears.

"Elena, please say something."

"Stefan things aren't the same. I don't know who you are anymore." She shook her head, trying to stop herself from crying. "You hid a huge part of your life from me for so long and I had to find out in the worst way what you really were. I can't be with someone who pretends to be something they're not."

Stefan stepped closer to her with sadness in his eyes. He saw her slipping away and couldn't think of anything that could make her stay. It made his whole body burn with anger and sadness. His gaze slipped down to her neck. Just the thought of her blood made him hungry.

Elena saw his eyes darken as they landed upon her neck. Her sadness turned into fear. She said nothing else and ran off to her dorm. She ran past her room and headed for the girls bathroom. Elena threw the door open and ran over to one of the stalls. She dropped down to her knees and found herself throwing up. She stayed there for six minutes and began to cry. She cried over losing Stefan. She cried over fighting with Damon. She cried over coming to New York. She just cried.

Elena had no idea how long she sat on the floor crying, but soon she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. When the person began to whisper words of comfort, Elena realized it was Rebecca. She felt safe and leaned into the girls embrace, continuing to cry. It was as if she would never be able to stop crying.

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><p>Please do not hate me for this chapter and the one before this chapter. I plan on making Chapter 8 longer.<p>

What did you all think of episode 10? The Delena kiss! I was so happy.

Send some reviews to let me know what you think of the story so far. I would really love you get your feedback. So far I've gotten positive reviews and a lot of people have added this story to their alert list which makes me so happy. :)


	8. Chapter 8

_Come on, come on  
><em>_Don't leave me like this  
>I thought I had you figured out<br>Can't breathe whenever you're gone  
>Can't turn back now<br>I'm_ _haunted_  
><em>-<em>Taylor Swift, Haunted

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><p>"Elena!"<p>

Elena smiled as Jeremy opened the front door. It was early on Thanksgiving morning and she had come home to Mystic Falls for the weekend. Seeing Jeremy made her realize how much she missed being home and embraced him in a hug.

"I've missed you so much, Jer," she said with a smile.

He smiled down at her. "I've missed you too. Ric! Elena's home!"

Alaric walked in from the kitchen and smiled at Elena. "Welcome home, Elena." He leaned down to hug her. After he patted Jeremy on the back, telling him to get Elena's bags from the car. "How was your trip?" he asked.

Elena shrugged her shoulders. "It was alright. I had to leave ridiculously early to avoid traffic from the parade in the city but once I got out of Manhattan, it wasn't that bad."

"Good," Alaric smiled. "Caroline is coming over later with Tyler for dessert. Bonnie will be here for dinner."

"Is Matt working?" Elena asked as she hung up her jacket.

Her ex-teacher/guardian nodded his head before walking back into the kitchen. He said to her, "I'm going to need your help with dinner. It's been forever since I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner."

She laughed and agreed to help him. She turned her head as Jeremy walked back into the house with her bags.

"Do you need me to bring them upstairs?" Jeremy asked her.

She shook her head, "No. I can bring them upstairs."

Jeremy let out a sigh of relief as he dropped her bags to the floor. He kicked his shoes off and dropped onto the couch. "Now I can go back to watching TV," he grinned.

Elena rolled her eyes and looked at the TV to see what he was watching. She saw a tiny brown mouse laughing at a cat. Tom and Jerry. "Mature, Jer," she laughed before walking up the stairs.

She opened her bedroom and was hit instantly with nostalgia. She closed the door behind her, and then leaned against to look around. On her dresser laid her vervain locket, reminding her of Stefan and their encounter a few days earlier. On her bed laid her teddy bear, reminding her of Damon who still was ignoring her calls. Elena thought coming home was supposed to a happy moment, not a moment where she thought of everything that made her want to cry. She came to the conclusion that she had to get out of the room, so she put her bags down and left the room.

Jeremy looked at her as she came back downstairs. Sensing that something was off, he asked her if everything was alright. Elena assured him that nothing was bothering her before she went to help Alaric in the kitchen.

Elena, Alaric, and Jeremy talked about how things were in Manhattan for her and how things in Mystic Falls were for them. They talked for a few hours and at 4 o' clock, the doorbell rang.

"That's probably Bonnie," Jeremy guessed. He stood up to answer it but Elena beat him to it.

She threw the door open and both girls let out a shriek.

"Elena!"

"Bonnie!"

They embraced for the longest time, beyond happy to see each other.

When they pulled away, they had bright smiles on their faces.

"I know we've talked almost every day," Bonnie started, "But seeing you after not seeing you for months really sucked."

"I know. I'm so happy to be back. When Caroline gets here for dessert, we need to talk," Elena said to her. She gave Bonnie a look that said she needed to tell her and their blonde friend something important.

Bonnie picked up on the look and nodded before greeting Jeremy with a kiss.

"Hi Bonnie," Alaric greeted her.

Bonnie waved at him, "Hi Mr. Saltzman."

He chuckled, "Bonnie, I'm not your teacher anymore and after all we've been through, I think it's okay for you to call me Alaric or Ric."

They all laughed and continued to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. Soon they were all sitting down at the table enjoying their meal. Elena felt happy to be at home with her friends and family. She missed the feeling of comfort her home had given her.

Dinner went by fast. Elena and Bonnie were sitting on the couch watching TV when they heard the front door open.

"We're here!" Caroline shouted out.

Elena smiled as she heard her friend's voice. She stood up from the couch but didn't have to move even an inch. Caroline, using her vampire speed, rushed over to Elena. She threw her arms around her friend, being careful not to hurt her, and hugged her tightly. "You are not allowed to leave ever again!" Caroline shouted.

Elena hugged the vampire back just as tightly. "Hello to you too, Caroline," Elena laughed. She pulled away and moved over to Tyler. He hugged him quickly. "Hey Tyler," she greeted him.

Tyler hugged her back with a small smile, "It's good to have you back, Elena."

"It's better than good!" Caroline grabbed Elena's arm and Bonnie's arm. "Girl talk. Upstairs. Now," she smiled at them.

Elena and Bonnie laughed and walked upstairs to Elena's bedroom, telling the boys that they would be down soon. Elena opened her door for them and closed it behind them.

"Spill," Caroline demanded.

"How did you know I had to talk to you?" Elena questioned her as she walked over to her dresser.

"Bonnie texted me," she smiled, "So what's up?"

Elena paused as she looked down at the vervain locket. She picked it up and cringed at how cold it felt in her hands. "I saw Stefan in Manhattan," she said.

Chaos erupted. Both Caroline and Bonnie had gone into overdrive. They were throwing so many questions at Elena. It was overwhelming for Elena.

"Guys!" Elena screamed at them. She held her hands up and took a deep breath, "Calm down."

"How can we calm down, Elena? You just told us that you saw Stefan. How long ago was this?" Bonnie asked with urgency.

"The first time I saw him-"

"The first time? You've seen him more than once?" Caroline continued the interrogation.

"Yes," Elena sighed. "When I first I got to New York, he followed me around in Central Park. I ran, but now he's in one of my classes."

"Elena, you can't stay there anymore. He's dangerous, you know that," Bonnie told her.

"Bonnie I can handle my ex-boyfriend," she yelled, "I told him that things between us would never be the same after everything." After Elena had said that, her friends asked her to explain what happened the second time Stefan had confronted her. Elena went into detail about her conversation with Stefan; she explained what he told her about how it was to be with Klaus, how he killed him, and how he stilled loved her.

After a moment of silence, Caroline looked at Elena. "Do you still love him?" she asked quietly.

Elena looked down at the locket and shook her head, "There's no one to love. The Stefan I saw isn't the Stefan I loved."

For the next few minutes, no words were said. Elena was looking down at the locket in sadness while Caroline and Bonnie stared at each other. They both nodded at each other and cleared their throats.

"Elena, there's something you should know," Bonnie said.

She looked up from the locket and at Bonnie. "What?" she asked.

"It's about Damon."

Elena's heart stopped. Her mind instantly thought of the worst. Was he dead? Was that why her calls had gone unanswered?

Caroline could tell that that's what she thought had happened. She shook her head at Elena, "No. Elena, Damon is fine. He's alive. Well, he's as alive as a vampire can get."

Elena felt as if she could breathe again. He was alive. He wasn't dead. "What is it then? Where's Damon?"

"Not in Mystic Falls," Bonnie frowned.

"He left a few months ago. I went over to the Boarding House to pick up some blood bags and no one was home. I called him and when he answered, he told me that he left. He said there was nothing worth staying for," Caroline explained.

Elena wanted to hear no more. Before her friends could say anything, she was grabbing her car keys and flying down the stairs and out the door. She heard her brother calling her name, but she didn't care. Elena had to get to the Boarding House. Damon couldn't have left. She was speeding in her car, going against all speed limits. Her phone had rang for ten minutes straight, but the calls stopped. Elena figured Caroline and Bonnie had explained to Jeremy, Alaric, and Tyler what happened.

She pulled up to the Boarding House and jumped out of her car. As she looked at the house, she felt her stomach tighten. She threw the front door open, shouting out his name. She ran downstairs to the cellar. No sign of him. She ran into the kitchen. No sign of him. She ran up to his room. No sign of him.

Elena dropped down onto his bed and looked around, sadness filling her entire body. His bed was unmade, as if he had just rolled out of it, but Elena knew he didn't. All of his drawers were open and empty, just like his closet.

"Damon?" she called out. She knew she would get no answer. She took her phone out and dialed the number that she had been dialing every day since their fight.

"Please answer," she whispered into the phone.

"The number you have reached is unavailable at this time. Please try your call again later."

Elena hung up the phone and let out a sob. Damon was really gone and it was all her fault.


	9. Chapter 9

_Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood  
>Miss 'No way, it's all good'<br>It didn't slow me down  
>Mistaken, always second guessing<br>Underestimated, look I'm still around  
><em>-P!nk, Fuckin' Perfect

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><p>Miserable. That's the kind of day it was. Elena sat in her dorm with the blankets all around her, staring out the window. The rain was pouring down hard. She had left Mystic Falls the previous day to come back to school, promising everyone she would be back for her long Christmas break.<p>

"Hey Elena," Kelly greeted her roommate.

Elena waved at her and remained quiet.

Kelly frowned. She figured something had happened when she went back home, but she didn't want to pressure her into talking about it. Instead, she tried her best to cheer her up. "So listen," she started, "Rebecca and I met these guys over Thanksgiving break here. We're going on a double date with them. Do you want to come with us? They said they have a friend who'd be interested."

Elena frowned. She didn't want to go on a date with anyone, so she told Kelly no.

"Elena, it might be really fun."

"I don't want to go on a date," Elena snapped.

Elena's outburst scared Kelly a little bit. She said nothing else to her and left the room quickly. Elena stood up from her chair and closed her eyes to stop herself from crying. She didn't mean to upset her friend. She was upsetting everyone lately. Elena picked up her journal from her nightstand and flipped to the next blank page.

_What's wrong with me? I'm upsetting everyone. I'm pissing everyone off. It seems like everything I do, everything I say, is the wrong thing. I haven't written in a long time. Not since we gave up on finding Stefan. Now he's back. He's back and he wants to be together again. I can't be with him, though. _

Elena frowned as she read her words. She couldn't be with Stefan. Why was she just realizing that?

_I always thought my reunion with Stefan would be…well, I never knew what my reunion with him would be. When he first left, I was ready to turn the entire world upside down to find him. I needed him. I loved him. After a year, I had to give up. Everyone told me that. Another year later, I really had given up hope. I didn't even think about what would happen if he came back. Here I am, in one of the greatest cities ever, and I ran into him. Seeing him was painful. I was afraid and I ran. I can't be with someone I'm afraid with. What Stefan and I had was amazing, and I think about it every single day. To have a relationship like that…I'd be so happy. I can't have it with Stefan anymore. He's not the Stefan I dated. The feeling's gone._

_Stefan came back, Damon left. I never thought Damon would leave but he did. I went to Mystic Falls excited to see everyone, but I didn't realize that I was excited to see him the most. We're close. I messed up though. I fought with him, when he was doing nothing but trying to protect me. I was wrong to tell him I didn't need him. I do need him. I'm alone in Manhattan and I have no one to turn to. He's the only who makes me feel safe and comfortable. He's nowhere to be found. He won't even answer my calls. He let go of me, something I thought he would never do, just like I let go of Stefan. Maybe I need to let go of Damon too._

Elena slammed her journal shut as Rebecca walked into the room.

"Is everything alright?" Rebecca asked carefully. Kelly had told her that Elena yelled at her.

Elena nodded, "I'm fine." She shook her head. "So how about that triple date?" Elena forced herself to smile.

Four hours later, Elena found herself standing outside of a movie theatre with Kelly and Rebecca.

"It'll be fun, Elena," Kelly assured her. She touched her friend's arm gently, "It's time you got out and forgot about that stupid ex-boyfriend Stefan. He's no good."

Elena laughed. Kelly had no idea how bad Stefan truly was.

"Hello ladies."

Elena set her eyes on the group of guys that had joined them. To say they were bad to look at would be a lie.

Kelly turned to introduce them to Elena. Kelly's date was named Thomas. He seemed to be very polite and had a certain charm to him. Elena could see why Kelly was so smitten. Rebecca's date was named Joseph. Elena smiled at how happy Rebecca seemed to be around him. She could only guess that Rebecca was head over heels for him already. Elena turned to who she guessed would be her date.

"Elena this is our friend Kevin," Thomas said to her. He gestured to his friend. He had dark hair with brown eyes. Elena smiled to be polite, but felt that something was off with him.

"It's nice to meet you," Elena said.

Kevin took her hand and kissed it gently, "Pleasure is all mine, Elena." He looked at his friend, "You guys didn't tell me she was gorgeous."

Elena blushed as the others laughed.

"We didn't know, dude," Joseph laughed. He gestured to the movie theatre, "Come on, let's go. Don't want to miss the movie." He looked down at Rebecca with a smile as he took her hand and walked into the theatre.

Kelly and Thomas followed behind, with Elena and Kevin behind them.

"Oh hey, Elena. What a surprise to see you here!"

Elena groaned and turned slowly. Stefan was standing there with a smirk, his green eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Who's this guy?" Kevin asked.

Elena shook her head, "An old friend. Just go inside. I'll be right there."

Kevin frowned but turned and left Elena outside.

"Are you spying on me now?" Elena asked.

"Well I heard that you were going out on a date and I wanted to see who the lucky guy was," Stefan smiled.

"You came. You saw. Now leave." Elena turned to leave him but Stefan grabbed her arm gently.

"Elena I don't trust him. Something is off with that guy. I can feel it."

Elena yanked her arm from his grip and glared at him, "You have no right to say you don't trust someone."

Stefan stepped back and dropped his arm to his side. Elena took that as a sign of surrender, and continued back into the theatre. She found her friends quickly and took a seat next to Kevin.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Elena nodded, "Everything's fine. Let's just watch the movie."

The movie went on and Elena groaned. It was a typical chick flick. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, problems ensue, happy ending. After the movie, they gathered outside of the theatre. Elena was happy to see that Stefan had left.

"Thomas and I are going to get some ice cream. Do you guys want to come?" Kelly asked the two other couples.

Joseph and Rebecca shook their heads, saying that they had plans of their owns to go for a walk. Elena was about to say that her and Kevin were going to go with them, but Kevin shook his head. He said, "Elena and I are going to take a walk of our own too."

Kelly smirked, "Alright. Have fun. I'll see you ladies back at the dorm."

All couples went their separate ways. Elena found herself walking awkwardly next to Kevin. They weren't talking much.

"So um, where are you from?" Kevin asked.

"Mystic Falls. You probably don't know it. It's a small town," Elena answered her.

"No. I know that town," Kevin smiled.

Elena froze and tried not to show her small fear. "Oh. You do? That's surprising," she said quietly.

"Yeah. I used to have family who lived there."

Elena said nothing else, too afraid to ask what happened to his family. Instead she asked him to bring her back to her dorm, saying she wasn't feeling well.

"But the night isn't over yet," Kevin said.

"I'm sorry. I just really don't feel good. It must've been the popcorn," Elena lied.

Kevin grabbed her arm and she winced. "Come on, Elena. Stay for a little longer. We can go back to my place."

"Let go of me, Kevin." Elena growled.

He shook his head and held on tighter, "It'll be fun."

"I said let go of me!"

Kevin pulled her into him and kissed her roughly, holding her arms tightly so she couldn't move. Elena cried and tried to hit him, but couldn't. In her head, she called out for help. No one would come, though. She didn't know why she bothered.

Kevin finally pulled away and said, "I'm not letting go."

Elena started to cry as he looked at her in a sick manner. She had no energy to fight back at him. She closed her eyes and was seconds away from giving up, when she heard someone run up behind them and speak.

"I believe the lady told you to let go."

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><p>Hmm, I wonder who has shown up! Review and maybe I'll post the next chapter soon. :)<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

_How perfect we were meant to be, our warm and silent symmetry  
>It's times like these when all, all we needed is to be reminded<br>And I have flown a thousand miles to empty rooms and crowded aisles  
>And we went from cathedral bells to show and tell and wish you wells<br>And I, I still look at you and I am blinded  
>I am blinded.<br>_-Josh Groban, Higher Window

* * *

><p>Elena never thought she would be so happy to see Stefan, but as he stood there, she was proven wrong. His eyes were dark, telling her and Kevin that he was furious.<p>

"Listen buddy, just keep walking," Kevin told him.

All hell broke loose. Stefan flashed over to the both of them and threw Kevin up against the brick wall. Elena flinched and turned away, afraid of what Stefan might do. Kevin let out a gasp of fright as the veins emerged around Stefan's eyes and as his fangs descended.

"What the hell are you?" Kevin yelled at him. He struggled to break free of Stefan's grasp, but failed.

"Someone who you just pissed off," Stefan growled. He wrapped his hand around Kevin's neck and stared into his eyes. "You're going to go home and forget about this. When your friends ask how it went, you'll tell them that you and Elena will not work out," he compelled him.

Kevin's gaze went blank as he stared back at Stefan. "I will go home and forget about everything. When my friends ask how it went, I'll tell them Elena and I won't work," he repeated.

Stefan dropped him and watched as he stumbled down the street. He turned his attention back to Elena, his eyes going back to green and his fangs disappearing. She was all shook up, and he wanted to hold her so badly, but knew that he shouldn't. "Are you alright?" he asked her awkwardly.

Elena nodded her head and turned back to looked at him. Once again, he had saved her from something that would have been awful.

"You saved me," Elena said.

"I couldn't let you get hurt, Elena."

"Why couldn't you?"

"You know why," Stefan whispered as he took one step closer to her. He smiled slightly when she didn't step back in fear. Instead, she continued to examine him.

As Elena examined him, she focused on his eyes. They were soft as the always had been when looking at her. For a brief moment, Elena saw her Stefan. She saw the man that she had fallen in love with. Tears pooled in her eyes as she realized that things really were different, that he wasn't trying to trick her so he could kill her. She closed the space between them and threw her arms around his shoulders, tears flowing down her face.

Stefan wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. It had been so long since he was able to hold her. He could feel his shirt dampen as she continued to cry but he didn't care.

They stood there for a couple of minutes, Elena crying and Stefan comforting her. It was getting later and Stefan didn't want them out in the street much longer. He rubbed her arms and pushed her away from his chest gently. She looked up at him in confusion as he brushed away a few strand tears with his thumbs. "Elena listen to me," he said in a hushed tone, "I'm going to bring you to my apartment so you can relax, and then I'm going to bring you back to your dorm. Is that okay?"

Elena knew she should have told him to take her back to her dorm immediately, but she didn't. She knew her roommates would still be out and she didn't want to be alone after what happened. Soon she found herself being picked up bridal style, hair flying everywhere. Stefan was running through the city at top speed, causing her to cling onto his neck.

Stefan had stopped running when he had reached the third floor of his apartment building. He put Elena down gently, apologizing to her for running without giving her a warning. He pushed his apartment door open and led her inside.

"Take a seat on the couch," he directed her. "I'll make you some vervain tea. Do you need anything else?"

"No. The tea will be fine," Elena replied. She watched him leaving the room, feeling a little more comfortable knowing that she would have vervain in her system.

A few minutes passed before Stefan came back into the room carrying a mug. Elena took the mug from him and gave him a small smile to thank him. As she took a sip, she could smell and taste the vervain.

"I figured you would feel better with the vervain," Stefan explained. He sat down on the opposite end of the couch to give her space.

Elena nodded her head and continued to drink the tea.

It seemed to the two of them that hours had passed before another word was spoken when in reality it was only a couple of minutes. Stefan was worried about saying the wrong thing and scaring her off, while Elena didn't know what to say.

Elena placed her mug on the coffee table and cleared her throat. "Thank you," she said to him. She looked at him, "Thank you for the tea and for helping me out."

He shrugged his shoulders, telling her not to thank him. "You know I'll always be around to help you out when you need it."

She didn't know how to respond to that, but deep down inside, she knew what he had said was true.

Stefan frowned and looked down at the floor, "Elena I don't know where to begin in telling you how sorry I am for hurting you these past few years."

She remained quiet, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. He picked up on that and continued to speak, "I can't turn back time and change everything but believe me, Elena. If I could, I would. I hurt you. That is something I never wanted to do. That day on campus, you said things aren't the same between us and I know they aren't, but there are some things that will never change. I will always love you and I will always be here to protect you."

His words hit her hard. Elena didn't want to cry, and even though she felt the tears well up again, she held them back. When Stefan reached over to hold her hand, she didn't pull away. Instead, she held onto his hand as if her life depended on it. "I never wanted to give up on you, Stefan," Elena confessed. "It got up to a point where I felt like I had no choice. You were gone and everyone was convinced you were never going to come back, so I had to move on."

"I understand and I'm sorry that I gave you no other choice," Stefan apologized. He squeezed her hand and said, "I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere."

The truth was said. Stefan wasn't going to go anywhere. He knew that and so did Elena. She closed her eyes to stop herself from crying, but a face flashed into her mind and she sobbed loudly. It was Damon's face. Stefan, thinking it was something he had said, wrapped his arms around her cautiously. Elena found herself wishing she was with the other Salvatore brother, the one she needed, but she wasn't. She cried for a while into Stefan's shirt while he held onto her, trying to comfort her. He held onto her until she fell asleep and when she did, he carried her into his bedroom. He wrapped Elena up in the blankets and placed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. She stirred and rolled over, her mouth moving slightly. Stefan stood by the bed, waiting to see if she was going to say something.

When Elena spoke, she left him shocked. It was one word, one tiny word, but threw a wrench into everything for him. That one word was a name of a man, a man he didn't think Elena would ever speak of in her sleep. That man was Damon, his very own brother.

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><p>Please do not hate me! I know you all hoped that Damon would be the one rescuing her. I would love it if you kept reviewing and I'll work on the next chapter very soon.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

_Now that we're here_  
><em>Now that we've come this far<em>  
><em>Just hold on<em>  
><em>There is nothing to fear<em>  
><em>For I am right beside you<em>  
>-Daughtry, What About Now<p>

* * *

><p>Elena opened her eyes and panicked briefly. She was in a strange room, sleeping in a strange bed. The events slowly came back to her as she looked around the room. She remembered her date with Kevin. She remembered Stefan coming to help her. She remembered Stefan bringing her to his apartment. She remembered all he said and remembered crying into his shoulder when she started to think of Damon.<p>

Just by thinking of Damon again, she felt her throat tighten. She didn't cry. She wouldn't cry anymore. She pushed all thoughts of Damon to the side and thought about his brother, the one who was in the other room. Stefan had shown no signs of lying last night. He didn't try to compel her or to even hurt her. Everything he said sounded sincere. That's what confused Elena the most. She sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard, holding her head in her hands.

"_I never wanted to give up on you, Stefan."_

Elena had been telling the truth. Once upon a time, she did love Stefan. She loved everything about him and would have done anything to get him back. After looking almost everywhere, Elena had to give up.

Stefan was back now. He was only a few feet away from her as she lay in his bed. He had come to find her because he was free. Elena realized he could have gone anywhere else in the world, but instead he came to find her. Damon and all of the things he did, especially the ones done when he came back to Mystic Falls, came to mind the more she thought. Elena had found it in herself to forgive him. "Maybe if I try," she thought to herself, "I could forgive Stefan."

With that decision made, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked out of the room quietly. Stefan was spread out on the couch watching something on the TV. When Elena walked in, he shut it off and sat up quickly.

"How are you?" Stefan asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I've been better," she laughed lightly, trying to get rid of the horrible tension hanging over their heads.

Stefan laughed along with her for a split second before clearing his throat. He stood up and gestured to the kitchen, "Are you hungry? I could make you something."

"No thank you. I'm not hungry," she declined his offer politely. She sat down on the couch and Stefan sat back down next to her. She looked at him and he gave her a small smile. "I'm really sorry," Elena said.

He tilted his head in confusion and asked what she was sorry for.

"For the way I treated you when you first showed up here."

"Don't apologize for that, Elena. You had every right to act that way and I deserved to be treated that way. Please don't apologize," he begged her.

"I thought you would hurt me, Stefan. I was scared. I didn't know how to react to you saying all of those things and to you being here, because to be honest, I thought I would never see you again," Elena explained.

"Elena please-"

She held up her hand to silence him. When he stopped talking, she continued to talk, "Last night proved me wrong. I thought Kevin was going to hurt me, but you stopped him. After that, I thought you were going to run off and call it a night, but you didn't. Instead you took care of me." She gave him a small smile. "That's the old Stefan that I love."

Stefan found himself smiling at her words, liking the way the conversation was going. He wasn't getting his hopes too high, but had a strong feeling things would be getting better.

"I'm going to give you one more chance to show me that the Stefan I love and the Stefan I miss is still here ," Elena decided.

He nodded his head vigorously, his smile ten times bigger than before. He didn't hug her or grab her hands, afraid of freaking her out. He thanked her over and over again, making Elena laugh.

After he had calmed down, she decided it was time for her to get back to her dorm. Stefan escorted her downstairs and waited patiently as she tried to get a cab.

When a cab finally pulled up to the curb Stefan opened the door for her. He said as she climbed into the car, "I'll call you later as soon as I think of something we can do."

"Sounds good to me. Bye, Stefan," Elena waved at him as he closed the door, and then gave the address of her dorm to the driver. He pulled away from the curb and into the crazy city traffic.

Elena wondered what her friends would be thinking if they knew she had agreed to go out on a date with Stefan. Out everyone, she only really cared about what Damon would have to say. She looked down at her phone, debating on whether to call him. It would lead to disappointment, but she dialed his number anyway. She closed her eyes, silently praying that he would answer, but the phone kept ringing. Voicemail. She ended the call quickly and threw dropped her phone back in her lap.

The cab pulled up to her dorm and she handed him the right amount of money. She walked up quickly to her room to find that Kelly and Rebecca were not there. There was a note pinned on the door that said they had gone out to breakfast and would bring back something for her. She smiled at how thoughtful her friends were. Elena looked over at her journal and picked it up. She opened it to a blank page as she sat down with a pen and began to write.

_Stefan saved me from a date that could have go completely wrong. It's as if something goes off in his head when he's nearby that tells him I'm in trouble, because he is always there. What I don't understand is how when Stefan was comforting me, I could think of nothing but Damon. How messed up is that? It used to be the other way around when Stefan left. I can't stop thinking about Damon. I've been calling him a lot more often. I don't know why. It's not like he answers. Every time I call, I get his voicemail. I just want to hear his voice. I haven't heard it in so long. I miss it. I miss him. I miss everything about him._

_I've decided to give Stefan one more chance, so we'll see how that goes. He was so happy when I told him, but I couldn't be as happy as him. I'm so confused. All I wanted was for him to come back and sweep me off my feet, telling me that he loves me and will never leave me. He's here now. He loves me and he's genuinely sorry for all that he did, so why I am not happy? Why do I want his brother to come back and why can't I stop thinking about his brother when I'm with him?_

Elena couldn't write anymore. She couldn't think of Damon anymore. It hurt her too much to not be able to talk to him, to not be able to see him, and to not be able to be near him. She had no idea where he was and if he missed her like she missed him. Elena thought he hated her for how she treated him, and if that truly was the case, she wouldn't be able to blame him. Damon was her best friend. She was closer with him more than anyone else she knew, even Caroline.

Thinking of Caroline, Elena picked up her phone and dialed her friend's number. The ringing stopped almost instantly as Caroline picked up.

"Elena Gilbert!" Caroline shouted into the phone. She laughed, "What's up?"

"Caroline, I need you and Bonnie," Elena said.

Caroline picked up on the sadness in her friend's voice and asked no questions. "We'll be there as soon as we can," she promised.

Elena nodded and felt a little better knowing her two best friends were coming to help her out.

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><p>Next chapter will feature Caroline and Bonnie!<p>

I know you all have been waiting for Damon to show up, but I'm sorry to say that you all have to wait a little longer. I promise the wait will be worth it.

Keep leaving reviews. They make me smile. :)


	12. Chapter 12

_The world comes to life and everything's bright  
>From beginning to end<br>When you have a friend by your side  
>What helps you to find the beauty you are<br>When you open your heart  
>And believe in the gift of a friend<br>_-Demi Lovato, Gift Of A Friend

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><p>It had begun to snow in New York City. As the snow fell outside at a slow pace, Elena moved around her dorm getting ready for the day. Caroline and Bonnie were coming to the city for the weekend so they could all spend time together.<p>

"Hey Elena," Kelly greeted the other girl as she walked in.

Elena waved to her with a small smile as she slipped on her snow boots.

"Where are you going today?" Kelly asked.

"My two friends from Mystic Falls came to the city for the weekend so I'm going out with them for the day."

She smiled at Elena, "Have fun. If you run into Stefan, just ignore him. That guy is a total assbag."

Elena laughed at Kelly's word to describe Stefan. "I won't run into him today. I have a strong feeling about that," she said. It was more than a strong feeling. Stefan had asked her earlier in the week if she to make plans, but Elena told him that Caroline and Bonnie would be in town. Knowing they wouldn't be happy to see him, Stefan said they would go out the following week.

Her phone vibrated briefly, alerting Elena of a new text message. It was from Caroline letting her know that she had arrived with Bonnie. Elena smiled and slipped her coat and hat on. She said goodbye to Kelly and hurried down the stairs.

Caroline and Bonnie were waiting outside patiently. Elena smiled as they came into her line of vision. She walked outside at a normal pace, shouting out to her two friends.

"Elena!" Caroline and Bonnie cried out.

The three girls met each other half way and embraced each other in one big group hug. When they pulled away, they all had big smiles on their faces.

"How are you, Elena?" Bonnie asked. Ever since Elena had told them in Mystic Falls Stefan was in New York City, she had been worried about her. When Caroline told her that Elena needed them in New York, her mind automatically jumped to the worst scenarios. Elena looked fine, however, and that set Bonnie's mind at ease

"I'm happy to see you guys," Elena smiled. She looped her arms through Bonnie and Caroline's before strolling away from her dorm building and to the Starbuck's not far away.

"We're happy to see you too Elena, but you know what Bonnie meant," Caroline said.

Elena nodded. She knew what Bonnie had meant. She let out a breath, "I'm alright."

"There had to have been a reason you asked us to come to New York."

"There is," Elena admitted to them, "But I can't tell you right now. We'll get our coffee and go to Central Park. It's really nice during this time of year."

Bonnie and Caroline looked at each other, deciding silently not to pressure Elena into telling them what was going on with her. The group walked to Starbuck's chatting idly. They ordered their drinks before heading back out into the snow and to Central Park.

They found a vacant bench and sat down on it, silently sipping on their drinks.

"I went on a date last week," Elena revealed to them.

Caroline smiled brightly at the news and instantly started to ask questions. "What was his name? Is he cute? Are you two going to see each other anytime soon?"

Bonnie cut Caroline off, noticing that Elena didn't seem as excited as she would have been. Something bad had happened on that date. Bonnie could feel it and Elena knew she could.

"What happened on the date, Elena?" Bonnie asked silently.

Elena shrugged her shoulders and stared off into the distance. "Nothing," she resumed the story. "We went to see a movie and he…got a little rough with me after that."

Caroline gasped in horror, "Oh my God…Elena, are you okay?" She frowned and could feel anger rise up inside her. "Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter who it was, Caroline."

"Of course it matters, Elena!" Bonnie shouted.

"No it doesn't because Stefan took care of him."

Bonnie and Caroline froze for a brief moment before snapping themselves out of their shocked states. They immediately asked Elena tons of questions about how Stefan "took care" of the man she had gone out with.

"He showed up out of no where and compelled the man to leave me alone. After that, he took me back to my apartment so I could relax," Elena held her hand up, knowing they would complain about that as well. "I know what you're going to say, so don't say it. I know just as much as you do about what Stefan is capable of doing, but he didn't do anything. He saved me and comforted me. When we got back to his apartment he even made me vervain tea. I haven't forgiven him for everything that he's done, but I can't be mad and push him out of my life anymore."

"Yes you can. Elena he's a murderer. He always has been and always will be," Bonnie argued.

"You said the same thing about Damon and look how he turned out," Elena retorted with an icy tone. She took deep breaths to get rid of her anger before speaking up once again. "I don't want to fight with either of you. You wanted to know what was going on. This is how it is. I'm giving Stefan one more chance. He's going to take me out and I'll see how it goes. If I could forgive Damon, I could forgive Stefan as time goes by."

Caroline looked at Bonnie and knew she wasn't going to say anything to Elena. She rubbed Elena's arm softly, showing her support.

Elena looked up at the vampire with a confused look.

"We don't like that you're giving Stefan one more chance, but that's just the kind of girl you are. You always look for the good in people, Elena, and when you find that good, you work your ass off to bring it out in that person. If you can find it in your heart to forgive Stefan, then that must mean he has some good left in him. We trust your judgment and we'll be here for you no matter what," Caroline said softly.

Bonnie listened carefully to Caroline's words and found herself smiling at Elena. Her friend was a good person and she did have the ability to bring out the good in people. Bonnie would never admit it, but she had begun to enjoy Damon's company before he left Mystic Falls. He had changed from the heartless vampire he had been when he first came to Mystic Falls to a vampire who would do anything to protect his friends and that was all because of Elena.

Elena smiled at her two friends and hugged them both. She thanked them both for always being there for and giving her the support she needed. Elena knew she could always depend on them, no matter what sort of situation she was in.

The girls left the park after a few more minutes and headed back to the hotel Caroline and Bonnie were staying in for a movie night. They hadn't been able to have one since Elena told them she was leaving for the city, and all three girls were very excited.

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><p>There will be a little surprise in the next chapter, so read on!<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

_You're the best and yes, I do regret  
>How I could let myself let you go<br>Now the lesson's learned  
>I touched it, I was burned<br>Oh I think you should know  
>Cause when I'm him I am thinking of you<br>Thinking of you  
><em>-Katy Perry, Thinking Of You

* * *

><p>The weekend following the one of Caroline and Bonnie's visit was Stefan and Elena's date. When Elena asked what they would be doing, he simply told her to dress nice. Not knowing where they were going worried Elena and her roommates.<p>

"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Elena?" Rebecca warily asked.

Elena nodded after a moment, lying through her teeth.

"You don't seem so sure about that," Kelly pointed out.

Elena let out a frustrated sigh and faced the two, "I know what I'm doing. Tonight is happening for a number of reasons and I can't back out." She had to find out if she could trust Stefan once again. She had to find out if they could have what they once had. If Elena backed out and canceled the date, she wouldn't get the answers that she needed.

There was a knock on the door and the girls guessed that it was Stefan. Kelly and Rebecca frowned as Elena opened the door and saw that it was indeed Stefan.

"Hey," Elena greeted him.

He smiled at her, "Hey. You look great." He looked past her and waved to Kelly and Rebecca. "Hello ladies," he said.

Elena frowned as her friends ignored him, but knew she should have expected that sort of attitude. She said goodbye to them before grabbing her bag and leaving the room.

"So will you tell me what we're doing now?" Elena asked as they exited the building.

Stefan smiled and held out two tickets for her to look at. "I got us tickets to see a Broadway musical," he told her.

She couldn't hide the shocked expression. She had expected him to take her to dinner like he used to Mystic Falls, but not a musical. She looked at the tickets and read out loud, "_Wicked_. You bought us tickets to see _Wicked_?"

He nodded and slid the tickets back into his pocket with a shrug of his shoulders. "I thought it would be something you'd like to see."

Elena gave him a smile of approval as a taxicab pulled up the curb. Stefan held the door open for her and waited until she was in the car before climbing in next to her. He gave the address to the driver and sat back in his seat as the man began to drive.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Elena was the one who broke the silence. She cleared her throat and asked, "Are we doing anything after the show?"

"I was going to leave that up to you," Stefan answered.

She bit her lip and after a while said, "We'll see how it goes at the show."

Stefan nodded and left it at that.

Another ten minutes passed before they arrived at the Gershwin Theatre where _Wicked _was playing. Stefan handed the driver some cash before getting out of the car. He held a hand out to Elena to help her out and let go politely once she was standing.

Stefan had gotten them into the theatre and to their seats quickly. He asked Elena if she wanted anything to drink before the show began, but she said no, so he sat down next to her.

Elena looked through the Playbill slowly as Stefan looked around the theatre. Both had nothing to say to each other and that upset them, especially Stefan.

"How is everyone back in Mystic Falls?" he asked.

Elena looked up from the Playbill and went to answer, but was interrupted when the lights dimmed and the music began to float through the theatre from the orchestra. She gave him a small smile to apologize for not being able to answer.

Soon the actors and actresses were running out on stage to begin the show. Elena gasped and smiled at the beautiful set and costumes. As they sang, she could feel goose bumps crawling over her skin.

While Elena watched the show, Stefan watched her. He loved how her eyes lit up as she watched the people move around on stage. He loved how she smiled every time someone began to sing. What he loved the most was how childlike she seemed. Stefan couldn't remember the last time he had seen her like that.

Elena felt him looking at her and turned her head to meet his gaze. As they stared at each other, she was surprised to feel nothing. There were no butterflies flapping around in her stomach. There was no warm fuzzy feeling. There was nothing. She turned her head back to the stage quickly.

Stefan frowned and turned his head to the stage as well. He could tell that nothing was in her eyes and had a pretty good idea as to why. He thought back to the other night when he had tucked her in. She had said Damon. She had said his brother's name. Stefan had no idea why at the time, but now he did.

After the show had ended, Stefan and Elena slowly walked outside in the winter weather of New York City. They decided to wander around aimlessly for a while.

"Everyone back in Mystic Falls is good, by the way," Elena said to answer his question from earlier. "Caroline and Tyler are still dating. Bonnie and Jeremy are still dating. Alaric is still teaching at the high school. There really isn't much that has changed since…you know."

Stefan tucked his hands into his pockets and nodded. He understood that Mystic Falls could get to be very boring after a while. What he didn't understand was why Elena hadn't mentioned anything about Damon. Was she looking out for his feelings? Had something happened between them? Stefan didn't know. "And my brother? How is the old pain in the ass doing?"

Elena frowned. She should have known that he would ask about Damon. Think of the dark-haired, blue-eyed vampire filled her with sadness instantly. "Damon left Mystic Falls a few months. I didn't know he had left until I went back for Thanksgiving."

Stefan could tell that she sad by her body language. Her shoulders had hunched down and her head was hanging low. Her eyes filled with sadness and regret instantly. "Why did he leave Mystic Falls?" Stefan asked.

She laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. It was a sad laugh. "I don't know why he left. I haven't talked to Damon in months. We got into a fight and that was it. I have no idea where he is."

"The fight couldn't have been that bad."

"If you only knew," she thought in her head.

"We won't talk about it if you don't want to," Stefan told her. He gave her a small smile and tried to offer her words of comfort, "Damon is just being his dramatic self. He'll be back and making his sarcastic remarks. It'll be like he never left."

Elena ignored him and looked down at the snow-covered ground. Thinking about the fight caused her stomach to hurt. She asked Stefan if he could bring her back to her dorm and he obliged. He got a taxicab quickly and helped her in again like he had done earlier on in the night. The drive was in complete silence and went by quickly. Before she knew it, Elena was standing outside of her dorm building with Stefan.

"I hope you had fun at the show," Stefan said.

She smiled half heartedly, feeling horrible that she didn't feel anything he was feeling.

Stefan frowned and looked down at the floor as he asked, "I have no chance, do I?"

Elena's heart broke at how sad he sounded. She knew she had hurt him and felt horrible. "I'm sorry, Stefan," she apologized. She knew from experience that saying sorry helped nothing, but she still said it anyway.

"Is it because of Damon?" he asked her. He listened closely for her reaction and was given the answer he needed. He heard the sharp intake of breath. He heard her heartbeat begin to race. When he looked up into her eyes, the answer was shining brightly. Stefan knew right then and there that Elena had fallen out of love with him and fallen in love with his brother.

"No!" Elena protested. She shook her head, "No! It has nothing to do with Damon!"

Stefan smiled at her sadly. He didn't want to argue with her or upset her. "It's okay, Elena," he whispered. He walked closer to her and held her face gently in between his hands. Tilting her head up he repeated, "It's okay."

Elena looked into his eyes and almost cried. His eyes were filled with pain and love. She had hurt him. Because of how focused she was on his eyes, she didn't notice as his face leaned closer to hers.

Stefan hesitated before placing his lips over hers gently. Elena didn't panic. Her eyes fluttered shut as their lips moved together. The kiss was brief, ending as quickly as it started. Stefan pulled away and held her hands gently for a while. Both knew what that kiss had meant. There was no need to say anymore. Stefan gave her one last smile before rushing off in a blur. Elena stood there for a couple of more seconds before walking up to her room.

As she stepped into the room, Kelly and Rebecca started questioning her.

"How'd it go?" Kelly asked.

"Did anything happen?" Rebecca asked.

"You look sick. What did Stefan do?"

"Do you need us to kick his ass?"

Elena shook her head and gave them a reassuring smile.

"Are you going to leave us in the dark? Tell us what happened," Kelly demanded.

A moment of silence passed as Kelly and Rebecca stared at Elena. She was leaning up against the door as she stared at the carpet, trying to process all that had happened. She knew what that kiss was and what it meant.

"We said goodbye," Elena whispered.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in Stefan's apartment, he sat on his couch looking down at his phone. He had been staring at his phone since he got home, thinking about Damon. All Elena had said was that they got into a fight. Stefan knew it had to be a bad one if Damon left Mystic Falls and hadn't talked to her. It was bothering Elena. Stefan could see that. He had to know what they fought about. He picked up his phone and dialed Damon's number. Holding the phone up to his ear, he hoped his brother would answer.<p>

"Can I ask why you are calling me, Stefan?"

Damon had answered, taking Stefan by surprise. All he could say was, "Damon."

"Yes. This is Damon. Why are you calling me, Stefan?"

"Where are you?" Stefan asked.

"That is none of your business. I'd ask where you were but you're probably somewhere in New York having the time of your life with Elena."

"Elena isn't with me and she has no idea that I'm calling you. Something happened between you two and I want to know what."

"Again, that's none of your business," Damon growled. He was frustrated. He didn't want Stefan calling him. He didn't want anyone calling him.

"It is my business when Elena is miserable because you're ignoring her and because you left Mystic Falls."

"Elena's upset?" Damon thought in his mind. He had no response for his brother. Sure Elena had been calling him nonstop. He was well aware of that. He couldn't answer though. If he did, he would have ran right back to Mystic Falls or New York, which is something he didn't want to do. Stefan knew Elena had been upset, knew he left Mystic Falls, and knew he was ignoring Elena. They had been speaking and that bothered Damon. "I'm sure Elena will get over it with you at her side just like old times," Damon said.

"Damon what the hell are you talking about? Look, just call Elena. She needs you. I don't know where you are and I don't know why you left, but get your ass back here."

Damon shook his head as the line went dead. Stefan had hung up on him before he got the chance to hang up. He tossed the phone onto his bed. "Elena doesn't need me," he thought to himself. She never needed him. It was always Stefan. If she did need him, she would have let him go to New York. Did she? No.

Did it hurt not being able to see her? Yes. Did it hurt not being able to hear her? Yes. Did it hurt not being able to be there for her? Yes, but Damon was doing what he had to do. He loved Elena, but now was not the time for him to be around her. There was something between them and until Elena figured that out, he would keep his distance.

He sat up from his bed and moved to get dressed. He slipped on his leather jacket and walked out of his hotel room, planning to go out for yet another night of distractions so he could stop thinking about the beautiful Elena Gilbert.


	14. Chapter 14

_All this money can't buy me a time machine, no  
>It can't replace you with a million rings, no<br>I shoulda told you what you meant to me  
>Cause now I paid the price<br>_-Katy Perry, The One That Got Away

* * *

><p>Elena sat in her desk reading over all that she had written for Parker's assignment. Kelly and Rebecca were talking about the double date they had gone on with Joseph and Thomas. Stefan had walked in a couple of minutes before and said hello to Elena to be polite. She waved back, still feeling horrible about hurting him.<p>

"Elena you shouldn't care," Kelly had told her the other night. "He'll get over it."

Maybe he would get over it, but Elena still felt bad.

Soon the professor was strolling in, greeting his students. He clapped his hands together. "How are those writing assignments coming along?"

No one in class responded, making him laugh. "It's one of those days, huh?" he asked. Parker's eyes roamed the class before landing on Elena. "Elena, how's the writing assignment? Better than the last time I checked up on you?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. I've been writing a lot more lately."

Parker smiled. "That's excellent!" he exclaimed. "You all need to find your inspiration. You're in New York City. There's inspiration all around you. Just find it. Elena could you read us a couple of paragraphs, please?"

Elena frowned. She didn't want to read what she had written down, especially not in front of Stefan. "I really don't want to-" she began to reject his request.

He stopped her midsentence and grinned. "Almost everyone has read what they have, Elena. It's your turn. I'll pick on someone else some other day. I want to hear what you have written."

She slid the notebook off of her desk and into her hands. She felt awkward as she stood up and felt all eyes on her. She took her place in front of the podium like she had seen a number of other students do in the previous weeks.

"Love," she read the first word she had written down. As she read that first word, she made sure to avoid Stefan's gaze. She looked back down at her notebook and continued to read. "It's something we've all felt in our lives at one point. I can tell you now that I've definitely felt it. I come from a small town called Mystic Falls. It's the type of the town where everyone knows everything there is to know about each other. It's filled with historical facts, secrets, and mysteries. I fell in love in Mystic Falls.

"Him and I, we had the type of romance you saw in movies. I couldn't think straight whenever he was around and with him next to me, I felt that I could fight off any sort of evil. As soon as I laid eyes on him in a room, I felt safe. I felt comfortable. He had saved me from the darkest time in my life and I like to believe that I saved him. All good things come to an end, though. He left the small town where we had saved each other," Elena paused for a brief moment to take a deep breath. She had grabbed the attention of her professor and every student in the room, especially her friends and Stefan. She cleared her throat before starting to read again. "A year passed and I decided it was time to move on. It was time to leave Mystic Falls. Now here I am, in the city that never sleeps. I came here to escape the secrets that were everywhere in Mystic Falls. I came here to start a new life and work on becoming a writer. I didn't expect to come here and realize that all this time, I've been in love with someone else."

Kelly and Rebecca scrunched their faces up and looked at each other in confusion. They had never heard of anyone else. They looked back at Stefan simultaneously to see him looking at Elena with a sad expression.

"I had left someone behind in Mystic Falls, someone who never did anything but care for me and look out for me. This man was the epitome of a beautiful tragedy. He was hard on the outside, but soft on the inside. He walked around acting like he had no heart, but I saw right through him just like he saw right through me. He did things that drove me crazy and made me want to hate him so badly. At the end of the day when I would look at him, I would find it hard to hate him. This man stuck with me through thick and thin. I always thought of him as a great friend.

"By coming here to New York, I hurt him. I was the only reason he had stayed in Mystic Falls and I left him abruptly. Now he's gone and I'd be lying if I said I knew where he had ran to. I find myself thinking of him every day and every night, wishing that he was here with me or that I was with him, wherever he may be. I love being in New York. It's such a change from living my entire life in that small town, and it's a change that I welcome with open arms. I'm happy here, but at the same time, I'm not. I don't feel like I'm home. My eyes have been opened after being shut, too afraid to see the truth glaring at me. I now know why I feel the way I feel." Elena looked up at the class, feeling light headed. Reading what she had written was taking a lot out of her. She felt all of the emotions she had felt while writing it, realizing all of it was true as she read each word. She had one more sentence to read and she grimaced, knowing it would take so much more emotion from her. She opened her mouth and read, with a slightly cracking voice, "I left my heart in Mystic Falls."

The class erupted into applause as Elena slowly walked back to her desk, trying her best not to cry. Kelly leaned over and rubbed her hand gently while Rebecca smiled at her. Elena smiled weakly at them both before turning around to look at Stefan. He smiled at her, happy that she had finally realized her true feelings. It hurt that he wasn't the one she loved, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about that. He was happy to have her as a friend because she would still be in his life that way.

Elena turned back around in her desk and managed to relax herself. She knew the truth now. All that was left for her to do was to do something with that truth.


	15. Chapter 15

_I'll be home for Christmas  
>You can plan on me<br>Please have snow and mistletoe  
>And presents on the<em> tree  
>-Bing Crosby I'll Be Home For Christmas<p>

* * *

><p>Elena pushed the front door to her home in Mystic Falls open wide. "Is anyone home?" she called into the house.<p>

Jeremy smiled as he heard Elena's voice. He walked down the stairs to help her with her bags. "Hey Elena," he greeted her.

She smiled at Jeremy as she pulled her bags in from outside. She took her coat off along with her hat and scarf as she asked, "Where's Alaric?"

"He had a parent teacher conference today. He'll be back later tonight."

They walked into the kitchen and Jeremy asked her if she wanted a cup of hot chocolate. She said yes and took a seat at the table. After a couple of minutes, he walked back to the table with a mug. Elena smiled and took a sip, loving the warmth that came from it.

"How's school?" Jeremy asked to make conversation.

She placed her mug down on the table. "It's alright. I'm doing good in all of my classes."

"That's good to hear. Did you finally start that writing assignment?"

"I actually did. It's a pain in the ass, but I've been writing a lot. Parker's stopped picking on me because he actually likes what I've been writing," Elena said. After class had ended the day she read her piece, the professor had pulled her aside to tell her what he thought of her writing.

"It's excellent, Elena," he had said. "I really do love what you have written so far. It's coming from the heart and that's what writing is supposed to be about. I look forward to reading the completed piece."

That had been a confidence booster for her and she had already written so much more. The thoughts kept coming to her the more she thought of her inspiration, Damon. Those were a lot of thoughts since she thought of him every day and there would be even more during her stay in Mystic Falls. Thinking of Damon made her wonder if he would make an appearance during her stay, but she got rid of that thought quickly to save herself from the disappointment she dealt with on Thanksgiving.

Jeremy and Elena sat at the table making small talk. They talked about Jeremy's schooling, his relationship with Bonnie, and whether Elena had been seeing anyone. She said no, deciding not to tell him about what had happened with Stefan, and quickly changed the subject.

Elena's subject change didn't go unnoticed and Jeremy frowned.

"What?" Elena asked.

"Are you really not going to tell me about what happened with Stefan?"

She closed her eyes, cursing Bonnie and Caroline. She knew it had to be one of them who told Jeremy.

"I won't lecture you on how I think that you're stupid for even thinking about giving him another chance. I'm not in charge of you so I have no say in who you go out with," he said. He looked at her with confused eyes, "Just tell me why, Elena."

Elena looked down in her mug as the guilt from rejecting Stefan floated into her mind. "It doesn't matter why I did it," she said. She paused for a brief moment before continuing, "Nothing can ever happen between Stefan and I. We went on the date and the feelings I have for him are gone."

He knew Elena well enough to know that she felt horrible about not returning the feelings Stefan had for her. He also was positive about knowing why she didn't return those feelings. Jeremy decided not to bring up that reason. He could tell by the way that she was staring at the mug intently that she had a lot going in her mind. Instead of saying anything else, Jeremy stood up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly. Elena smiled, grateful that she had someone who was always so understanding of how she felt. She turned around in her seat and wrapped her arms loosely around his neck to hug him back. In that moment, Elena knew everything would be okay.

* * *

><p>"Elena! Get your lazy ass up!"<p>

Elena lifted her head up and stared at Jeremy as she stood in her doorway of their connecting bathroom. He was smiling widely at her. She looked over at her alarm clock and saw that it was only eight thirty in the morning.

"Jeremy, it's way too early. What the hell do you want?" she groaned as she dropped her head back to her pillow.

"It's Christmas, Scrooge. Ric is downstairs making breakfast and then we're exchanging gifts. Everyone is coming over at two. Again, get your lazy ass up!" he yelled. He walked out of the room grinning like the Cheshire Cat and walked down the stairs.

Elena got out of bed and ran her hand through her hair. Christmas was her favorite time of year, but she wanted to do nothing except go back to sleep. Soon she was slipping on a pair of socks before joining Alaric and Jeremy downstairs.

"Merry Christmas, Elena," Alaric smiled at her. He handed her a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Is this my Christmas gift?" Elena joked.

"Times are tough, kid. Times are tough. We all can't be in the city working to be the next J.K. Rowling," he teased her.

Elena giggled and took her plate from him. She sat across from Jeremy, who was half way done with his plate. "I might be the lazy ass, but you're definitely the fat ass."

"I'm a growing man. What do you expect?" Jeremy said with a mouth full of food.

"He just wants his gifts. He's like a child," Alaric said. He held up his cup of coffee in front of his lips to hide his grin.

Jeremy rolled his eyes and continued to eat, finishing his plate before the other two. As Elena and Alaric ate Jeremy yelled at them to chew faster, saying that they were burning daylight and could eat later.

Once breakfast was finished and the plates were in the sink, they moved to the living room to exchange gifts. To shut Jeremy up, Alaric and Elena decided to give him his gifts first.

Alaric handed Jeremy a gift bag and they watched as Jeremy pulled out a black book.

"What is this? A journal?" Jeremy asked.

"Flip through it and look," Alaric instructed.

Jeremy did as he was told and smiled when he did. It was a scrapbook of sorts. On each page were excerpts from Johnathan Gilbert's journals and from various books that involved almost anything about vampires, along with little facts about Mystic Falls.

Alaric began to explain why he got that for Jeremy as the teenager continued to flip through the pages, "You're ridiculously hard to shop for. I couldn't think of anything to get you, so I nerded out and put this together for you. You might know most of it but hey, you never know."

"This is great, Ric," Jeremy claimed. He thought it was a thoughtful gift and knew as soon as everyone had left that night, he would start to read and most likely finish it in one night. He thanked Alaric before taking Elena's gift.

"Merry Christmas, Jer," Elena smiled.

Jeremy began to tear off the wrapping paper and stared at the gift in wonder. Elena had bought him an easel along with a variety of paints and brushes. There was also a sketchbook that she had bought him too.

"I went a little crazy in the art store," Elena confessed. She smiled as she saw Jeremy's face light up.

Jeremy thanked her repeatedly and Elena laughed as he threw his arms around her. When he let go and sat back down, Jeremy pushed his gifts to the side carefully.

"Alaric's turn," he announced.

Elena grinned as she picked up a wrapped box and handed it to him. She said to him, "This is from the both of us."

Alaric quickly unwrapped the box and opened it, curious to see what they had gotten him for Christmas. When he looked into the box, he laughed out loud. A white shirt with black writing that said," Vampire Hunter" was facing up. He picked up the shirt and laughed again when he saw two stakes and a book on World War II. History was his thing and so was hunting vampires. "This is great," he laughed. Jeremy and Elena began to laugh with him. He pushed his gift aside and said that it was Elena's turn to receive her gifts.

Elena sat on the couch with a grin. She looked at them as they picked her gifts up from under the tree. Jeremy handed her a tiny box. Elena shook it and smiled. "This is definitely a bracelet," she said out loud. She unwrapped it quickly and threw the lid off. She looked into the box and felt her heart stop beating. Elena looked up at Jeremy in shock. In the box was Miranda Gilbert's Tiffany's charm bracelet.

"Jer…" she whispered. She picked up the charm bracelet carefully, as if it would shatter instantly. She examined the four charms one by one. The charms were all familiar. Her Mother had a charm to remind her of the special people in her life. There was a bottle of wine to represent Jenna. This made Elena laugh. Next to that was stethoscope to represent Grayson, her Father, and next to that was a paintbrush to represent Jeremy. To represent Elena, Miranda had chosen a diary charm.

"Mom would have given that to you, so that's a gift from me and her," Jeremy smiled at her. "Now it's your turn to add charms to it."

Elena smiled at the bracelet. She placed it gently in the box before hugging Jeremy. "Thank you so much," she thanked him.

They hugged for another minute before Elena pulled away, wiping the one tear that had fallen away.

"If that made you cry, then my gift will really make you cry," Alaric said as he handed her a wrapped package.

Elena laughed shortly before unwrapping her gift. It was a white photo album.

"Jenna had started this before everything happened. It was supposed to be your Christmas gift last year but I didn't finish it until this year."

Elena flipped through the pages one by one and smiled down at the photos. It had pictures from when she was a little baby until the past Thanksgiving. At the end there were a couple of extra pages so she could put in pictures of her own.

"These are the best gifts I have ever been given," Elena told them. She smiled at them and thanked them one last time before hugging them.

They cleaned up the wrapping paper and went their separate ways to get ready for the day. Before they knew it, their guests had arrived and Alaric was starting Christmas dinner.

Elena sat in the living room with Jeremy, Bonnie, Tyler, and Caroline.

"How've you been doing, Tyler?" Elena asked. Whenever Elena saw a full moon in New York, she would worry about her furry friend.

Tyler shrugged his shoulders, "I have my good days and I have my bad days. Caroline helps me out a lot." Tyler and Caroline smiled at each other, then kissed briefly.

"It's definitely not as bad as it used to be," Caroline gave her opinion.

"That's good," Elena smiled reassuringly. She looked down at her lap, trying to get rid of the awkward feeling. Caroline and Tyler were now talking to each other in hushed tones, having one of those couple moments Elena hadn't experienced in a long time. Jeremy and Bonnie were doing the same thing in the dining room.

Elena felt jealous. She missed the feeling she knew Caroline and Bonnie were feeling in that exact moment. She missed being able to look into someone's eyes and feel everything else fade away into darkness until all you could see was your loved one.

"I wish Damon were here," she thought to herself.

Damon Salvatore had not made an appearance and Elena knew he wouldn't. That's what hurt her the most. As Elena sat on the couch, she thought about how much she missed him. She missed his sarcastic remarks. She missed that smirk. She missed seeing his signature leather jacket. She missed hearing his voice. She missed seeing his blue eyes. Elena wanted nothing more but for him to rush into the room and smirk at them all. Elena laughed as she thought about what he would do. He would rush in and say something to get everyone's attention. He would be dismissive about his disappearance and disappear into the kitchen, then come back with a drink in his hand. Him and Alaric would go back and forth in a playful banter before Damon turned to Tyler to make fun of him. Caroline would yell at him and Damon would just brush her off, then make fun of her. Bonnie would yell at him and Damon would roll his eyes. Then Damon would look at Elena with the look that she knew was only for her, because Damon loved her. He loved her, he protected her, he defended her, and he was there for her. Elena loved that. Elena loved every single thing, good and bad.

"I love him," Elena thought. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath. Her heart was racing and her skin felt hot as the truth hit her like a train.

"Elena?" Caroline asked her.

Tyler waved his hand in front of her face. "Earth to Elena," he chuckled.

Elena felt as if everyone was crowding around and pushed them away. She had to get out of the house and knew of only one place that she could run to. She rushed over to the coat rack and threw her coat on.

"Elena where are you going?" Alaric asked.

Elena zippered up her jacket and shouted her answer frantically, "Cemetery!"

* * *

><p>I am working like crazy to get the next chapter up. You guys will love the next three chapters, I promise!<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

_Time is going by so much faster than I  
>And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you<br>_-Nickelback, Never Gonna Be Alone

* * *

><p>Elena walked through the snow-covered cemetery as families were visiting their loved ones all around her. She walked silently, her eyes on the tombstones a couple of steps away. She stopped walking and got down on her knees. The tombstones of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert, John Gilbert, and Jenna Sommers stood in front of her.<p>

"Merry Christmas," Elena said to them.

She had never missed them more than she did in that moment. Elena missed the people she called parents for her entire life. She missed her beautiful Aunt Jenna. She even missed John, her actual Father.

"I'm back in Mystic Falls for Christmas. I had to come here to say hello since I haven't been here in a long time. I go to Hunter in Manhattan now. It's really great. I'm working on becoming a writer, just like you guys always thought I would become. I even made two new friends. Their names are Kelly and Rebecca. They're really nice and we have a good friendship. Sometimes they drive me crazy, but so do Caroline and Bonnie," Elena laughed to herself. She thought she must have looked crazy to everyone around her. They were all talking quietly to each other while she sat there talking to three tombstones.

Elena felt as if it got colder. She wrapped her arms around herself to try and keep herself warm. One by one, the families left the cemetery. Soon Elena was the only one there. It made her feel truly alone. She knew she had her friends back at home and she knew she had Kelly and Rebecca in New York, but why did she feel the way she felt? Was it because of the people she had lost?

"If I have so many people here with me," Elena whispered as she picked up a handful of snow. She let it fall to the ground slowly. "Why do I feel so alone without you guys?"

Her emotions took hold of her. She began to cry and held her head in her hands.

"I'm afraid I've made a big mistake and I don't know how to fix it. Mom and Dad, you guys always said that every mistake could be fixed as long as you were truly sorry, but I can't fix this one. I need you guys to help me. I can't do this on my own anymore," she cried.

Elena figured out why she was feeling so alone. Not only was it because she didn't have Miranda, Grayson, Jenna, or John, but because she didn't have Damon. Her realization back at her house made everything ten times worse for her. Damon wouldn't have left if it wasn't for her. He would still be here and she wouldn't be sitting in the cemetery crying. Maybe they would even be together, but Elena wasn't sure about that. She looked at John's tombstone as she thought about her love for the vampire, knowing he wouldn't approve.

"Uncle John," Elena sighed. She ran her hand over the tombstone lightly before pulling it away. She shook her head, "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. You did nothing but try to protect me. You gave up your life just to save me from something you knew I didn't want. I wish I could have gotten the chance to thank you in person. Please don't be disappointed in me for the choices I've made, especially when it comes to Damon."

The sky was getting darker and Elena could have sworn it got even colder. She knew she had to leave soon, but she couldn't without talking to Jenna. There was a single red rose lying in front of her grave and Elena figured that Alaric must have visited her recently.

"I miss you so much Aunt Jenna. I think about you every single day. We all do. If I could have saved you that night I would have. Klaus is dead. I'm sure you knew that, though, and I'm sure you gave him a nice welcome when you saw him," Elena chuckled as she pictured Jenna screaming at Klaus. She cleared her throat before speaking again, "I could use your advice right now because I have no idea what the hell I'm going to do."

She sat on the ground and talked a little longer before it was time for her to leave. The sky was darker than it was ten minutes ago and Elena felt like she was going to freeze. She didn't want to leave, but she knew she had to. She placed a small kiss on each tombstone before standing up, wiping away the tears that had frozen on her cheeks.

As she walked out of the cemetery, Elena felt as if someone was watching her every move. It scared her. She walked a little quicker, but the cemetery gates seemed so far away. The feeling got worse and soon Elena was running. She ran and ran until she collided with a hard chest. She fell and groaned as she hit the ground hard. "If you see someone running, the smart thing is to move," she spat out.

"Really, Elena? Nice to see you too."

Elena looked up. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes widened.

Damon smirked as he looked down at her. He held out a hand to her, offering to help her up from the ground.

Elena stared at his hand. "This can't be real. He's not here. I've gone crazy," she thought in her head. Elena reached up and touched his hand. She gasped as he pulled her up. She let go of his hand to place hers on his cheek, still not believing that he was standing in front of her. "Damon?" she said.

"In the flesh, kid," Damon grinned.

As he spoke, her arms went around his shoulders and she hugged him as if her life depended on it. Damon, not expecting this, slowly wrapped his arms around her waist. Both held onto each other tightly to make up for the months they were apart. Damon felt regret for leaving Mystic Falls and for ignoring her for so long, so he tried to show her how sorry he was through the hug. They didn't know how long they stood there for, but time didn't matter to them. The only thing that mattered to Elena was that he was back. The only thing that mattered to Damon was being able to hug her after not seeing her for months. The only thing that mattered was each other.

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><p>HE'S BACK.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

_I'm quiet you know  
>You make a first impression<br>I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind  
><em>_Even the best fall down sometimes  
><em>_Even the stars refuse to shine  
><em>_Out of the back you fall in time  
><em>_I somehow find you and I collide  
><em>-Howie Day, Collide

* * *

><p>Elena didn't know what was going on. Damon had pulled away from her in the cemetery and before she could say anything, he was putting her into his car and driving them. She guessed that they were going to the Boarding House. It was silent in the car and Elena used that time to get her thoughts together, to figure out what exactly she wanted to say to the vampire sitting in the seat next to her. She looked over at him.<p>

Damon felt her look over at him and turned to look back at her. He smirked and chuckled when she turned away. Damon knew she was mad at him and was waiting for her to start yelling. When she was going to start, he didn't know.

He slowed the car down in front of the Boarding House and stopped it a few seconds later. Damon climbed out of the car as soon as he shut it off and Elena swiftly followed. Together they walked into the house, still not speaking. Damon headed for the bar while Elena stood a few feet away from him.

"You know," Damon spoke as he poured himself a glass of bourbon, "You can speak to me. I don't bite. Well, at least not you." He smirked at her as he took a sip from his glass.

"How can you joke around like this?" Elena asked in a slightly frustrated manner. She ran her hand through her hair and pushed it out of her face, "You disappeared for months and that's what you say when you come back?"

Damon rolled his eyes. He wondered when Elena would realize that he couldn't help but joke around like that. It was a second nature to him.

"Where were you, Damon?"

He moved his hand around, the liquid in the glass swishing around, "I was around. I went to Florida, to California, but then I got bored of the U.S of A so I jumped on a plane and went to France for a while," He raised his eyebrows in his usual manner, "Now _that _was fun."

Elena frowned as her mind filled with things she thought Damon had done. It made her feel sick and she tried to push the thoughts away, but she couldn't. She looked at him with sad eyes as she asked, "And you couldn't answer your phone or return my calls?"

"You made it clear that you were a big girl and didn't need me while you stayed in New York."

"So? I thought we were past ignoring each other. You should have answered once in a while just to let me know that you were okay!" Elena exclaimed. Her voice was getting louder as she was getting more frustrated.

Damon took a step closer to her, nowhere near ready to apologize to her. She pushed him to leave him and he wasn't going to say sorry for that. He looked at her with hard eyes, "You should have let me come to New York to make sure you were okay. You were the one who was with my psycho, blood crazy vampire brother. I'm not a child, Elena. I didn't need to call you every day to tell you I was eating my vegetables and taking care of myself."

"Stefan never did anything to me, Damon," She held out her hands and spun around quickly to show him she wasn't harmed, "See? I'm fine. You freaked out over nothing and that's why I told you to stay out of New York."

"Oh I freaked out? You were the one who called me scared out of your mind," he spat at her.

"I called you to tell you that he was there because I don't like keeping things from you!"

"Oh how nice of you, Elena," he rolled his eyes and drank the remains of his drink before pouring another glass.

"Why are you acting like this?" Elena asked. She shook her head and shot him a dirty look.

"Elena, don't give me that bullshit!" he yelled at her. He slammed his glass down onto the table and rushed over to her. He continued to yell, "You were the one who pushed me away. Don't play the victim. You may have been the victim in almost everything your entire life and that may work with Stefan but it doesn't work with me. Why are you so mad that I left, huh? Why do you care?"

"Because I was worried!" Elena cried out. She tried to take a step back but her legs hit the couch. She frowned at having no escape.

"Oh you were worried? How sweet," he growled.

"I was worried!" she shouted back at him. "I didn't know where you were and I had no way of finding out if you were okay. I shouldn't have said what I said to you the night I saw Stefan and I regret acting that way. You were only trying to protect me and I just pushed you away. I'm sorry, Damon. I'm so sorry."

Damon's anger faded a little as he looked into Elena's eyes. He saw regret there and decided he would back off on making her feel bad. She was doing that enough to herself.

Elena took his silence as a way of telling her to continue with what she had to say. She was going to continue saying what she thought of saying every day and every night, but he stopped her. Damon placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. He raced upstairs to his room and came back down with a rectangular box.

"Here," he handed it to her. "This is for you."

Elena looked down at the box and opened it, gasping at its contents. There was a necklace with a golden locket and she could smell the vervain coming from inside. Right in front of him, she took the necklace out of the box and hung it around her next. Damon watched her as if he was mesmerized by her every move.

"Thank you," she said as she looked down at the locket.

Damon said nothing in response and took a step closer to her. He brushed her hair back and kept his hands resting near her chin. It was hard for him to resist the urge to smirk as he heard her heart beat faster as his skin came in contact with her.

Elena looked up at him, knowing tonight was the night to be honest with him. She had to tell him everything, but didn't know how. "I missed you every day you were gone," she started off with.

"I would have missed me too," Damon chuckled.

She rolled her eyes but didn't get annoyed. She knew he was going to make a remark like that. It was just the way he was. She cleared her throat and began to speak again, "I went on a date with Stefan."

Damon dropped his hands and took a step back. "Unbelievable," he muttered. He laughed and took another sip of his drink before looking back at her, "Actually, that is believable. I knew that you would get back with Saint Stefan as soon as he showed up. I have to say that I didn't want to hear that so if you'll excuse me, I have people to bite." He turned to exit the room, furious at himself for thinking things had changed between them. It would always be Stefan. "You think I would know that," he thought in his head.

Elena grabbed his hand tightly, not allowing to him walk out of the room. She knew he had jumped to conclusions but had to explain herself. "Damon let me explain," she said to him.

Damon stood with his back turned to her, waiting for her to explain how she was madly in love with Stefan and couldn't walk away from him that easily. "Well?" he cleared his throat, "I'm waiting."

"I went on a date with Stefan to see if anything was there. At the end of the date, he asked me if he had another chance," Elena paused to walk around him and stand in front of him. She looked into his eyes and frowned as she saw him putting up his walls once again. She touched his face gently and gave him a small smile, "I said no. Your brother and I are over, Damon. It ended a long time ago and was replaced by something, something that I only realized today."

Damon froze as he looked into her eyes. He waited for her to say something, but she didn't. They stood in silence as they stared at one another, trying to make sense of all that was happening. "What did you realize Elena?" His voice was deep and cracked slightly as he said her name.

Elena stepped closer to him and stood up on her toes to brush her lips against his. She pulled away after a few seconds and looked up at him for some sort of response.

All he could do was stand there, shocked that Elena had initiated the kiss. It was small and brief, but it was a kiss nonetheless. It was a kiss that said it all. Damon grabbed her arms and looked at her with a stony expression. "What are you trying to say Elena?" he asked.

"You know what I'm trying to say," Elena whispered.

"Say it," he commanded her. "I need you to say it."

Elena placed her hands back on his face and smiled at him. She understood why he needed to hear her say what he waited so long to hear, and she wasn't going to make him wait any longer. "It's you. I love you, Damon," she said.

Damon didn't hesitate. As soon as the words came floated out of her mouth, he pulled her into a passionate kiss. Their lips moved together in unison, almost as if they were made to mold together. He placed his hands on her hips and gripped it tight while Elena moved her hands to the back of his neck as they continued to kiss. There was nothing or no one stopping them. Elena wasn't Katherine trying to trick Damon. There was no one they were cheating on. They didn't have to hide their feelings anymore. They could love each other openly.

They finally separated after what seemed like hours. Damon laid his forehead against hers and chuckled as she took deep breathes. "I love you too," Damon said.

"I know," Elena smiled. She kissed him lightly on the lips before saying, "I've always known, Damon."

He smiled, actually smiled, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Elena wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled into this shirt as Damon kissed her forehead. They finally had each other after what seemed like an eternity of being separated. Everything was finally right for the both of them and they planned to keep it that way for as long as possible, and that was a very long time.

* * *

><p>And there you go. Damon is back and now, him and Elena are finally together.<p>

There is one last chapter, an epilogue, and then the story will be finished.

Send me some reviews and let me know what you thought of the chapter. :)


	18. Epilogue

_This night is sparkling  
>Don't you let it go<br>I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home  
>I'll spend forever wondering if you knew<br>I was enchanted to meet you  
><em>-Taylor Swift, Enchanted

* * *

><p><em>Three years later…<em>

"It's about time you two got here!" Caroline shouted. She threw Damon and Elena silver hats as the couple stepped into the Mystic Grille. It was New Years Eve and like every year, there was a huge party held there.

Damon frowned as the hat his chest. "I don't wear these things," Damon said. He handed the hat back to Caroline while Elena put hers on.

"You're such a grouch, Damon," Caroline groaned. "Elena's wearing hers!"

"That's because I'm fun," Elena laughed.

Caroline rolled her eyes and ran off to continue giving out hats.

"I'm fun too," Damon pouted. He pulled her closer by the waist and whispered in her ear, "Did you forget about what we were doing before you dragged us out of bed to come here?" He nipped at her ear seductively.

Elena pushed him away as she turned a violent shade of red, "Of course I didn't forget. You're the reason we were late."

"Well you didn't seem to mind a few hours ago."

To silence him, she kissed him quickly before grabbing his hands and dragging him over to the bar. She had seen Stefan sitting there as she walked in.

A year ago, Stefan had made his way back to Mystic Falls. Everyone, with the exception of Elena, who was aware of all that happened was on high alert around him. The rest of the town just gave him sympathetic looks, saying how horrible he must have felt because of Elena dating his older brother. Damon wouldn't let Stefan stay at the Boarding House for the first couple of months but after Elena talked to him, Stefan was allowed back. Things were rocky between the two brothers, but after another couple of months the hostility and bitterness disappeared.

It was slightly awkward for Stefan to see Damon and Elena walk around, clearly deeply in love with each other. It hurt but he did nothing. Elena was happy and that was all that mattered to him.

"Hey, little brother. What are you doing at the bar? Go home and do your school work," Damon joked with him.

"Funny, Damon. Really. I can't stop laughing," Stefan said plainly. He patted his brother on the back before giving Elena a small hug. "How do you deal with him?"

"She deals with me because she loves me. Now excuse us. I am taking her to the bathroom so I can have my way with her," Damon winked at Elena before grabbing her hand lightly.

"You have fun with that. I'm going to bug Lockwood," Stefan took his drink and walked away from the couple.

When he walked away, Elena slapped Damon lightly before taking Stefan's seat. "Stop with those jokes around him," she told him.

"Why?" Damon rolled his eyes, annoyed at how Elena was so protective of Stefan. "He's a big boy. He can handle it."

"Whatever you say, Damon."

Damon rolled his eyes. He loved when she tried to be mad at him. It made him laugh. She could never stay mad at him. All he had to do was look at her and she'd melt. He looked over at the bartender and ordered two bottles of beer for them. The bartender nodded and handed the two over. Elena and Damon took the bottles and clinked the necks together before taking a sip.

"It's almost midnight," Damon noticed as he looked at the countdown hanging on the wall. It read eleven fifty P.M.

Elena nodded and took another sip of her beer putting the bottle down on the bar. "Ten more minutes," she said. She looked at him with a grin, "I can't believe I spent another year with you. You're so annoying. "

"I don't know how you deal with me, Elena. I'm so annoying. I'm the worst boyfriend ever," Damon lied.

She laughed and nodded, "Yes. Yes you are."

Damon leaned over and kissed her slowly. He would never get enough of her. Every kiss seemed to be better than the last and left him wanting more. It was bad for him when she was in class at school. Damon had moved to New York and bought an apartment when Elena went back to school. She finished the rest of the school year in her dorm, staying at his apartment over the weekend, but moved in the following year. While she was in class, Damon was so tempted to just walk in and kiss her. He hated being away from her, even if it was just for a few hours.

Elena broke the kiss and smiled at him, "I love you.

"I love you too," he said back to her.

"Everyone get ready for the countdown! It's five minutes to midnight!" Caroline shouted.

Glasses of champagne were handed out to everyone in the room and Elena took hers from Bonnie with a smile. She got off of the bar stool and stood in between Damon and Bonnie. Elena looked at her friends with a smile. Standing next to Damon and casually starting a conversation was Alaric, Stefan, and Matt. On Elena's side, Bonnie and Jeremy stood holding hands along with Caroline and Tyler. Elena slid her hand into Damon's and looked at him with a smile. He returned it and squeezed her hand gently. They were ready to start a new year together.

A minute before the countdown began Damon placed his champagne glass down onto the bar. He took Elena's glass from her and put it next to his.

"Damon what are you doing?" Elena asked.

He smiled at her and pulled out a small box from his pocket. As she gasped, he took her hand in his and got down on one knee. Their friends watched with smiles on their faces as Elena asked Damon what he was doing.

"I'm asking you to do my laundry. Come on Elena," Damon laughed, "What does it look like I'm doing?" He opened the box and pulled out a beautiful ring. Damon had gone earlier in the month with his brother, Alaric, Jeremy, Matt, and Tyler to Tiffany's when he decided that he wanted to make Elena his wife. It was a platinum band with diamonds along the side along with one diamond in the middle.

As Damon held the ring up to her, Elena stared at its beauty. It had to be the most beautiful ring she had ever seen and what made it even more beautiful was what it was for.

"We have a past. A pretty important one. I came into town and messed everything up. You ended up hating me, with every reason to, and I hated you back. I don't know when things started to change but they did and I'm happy that they are. You gave me a second chance, Elena. I will remember that for the rest of my life. Then three years ago, you told me you loved me and that changed everything for good." He took his hand in her, "Be my wife. You are the reason I believe God put me on this earth, and you know I don't believe in him often."

The countdown began. While the rest of the Grille counted the seconds down to the New Year, the small group stood around Elena and Damon impatiently waiting for Elena to answer Damon.

"Thirty! Twenty nine! Twenty-eight! Twenty-seven!"

"I will love you for the rest of my life and be happy every single day as long as I get to call you my wife," Damon said.

"Nineteen! Eighteen! Seventeen! Sixteen!"

"Damon…" Elena said over the loud noise.

"Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!"

Damon stared up at her breathing heavily. He had never been this nervous in his life. All he wanted was her to say yes.

"Yes. I'll marry you," Elena cried out to him in happiness.

"One! Happy New Year!"

Damon jumped up and picked her up bridal style, spinning her around and around. Elena laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Their friends began to jump up and down, shouting in excitement.

Damon stopped spinning her around and placed her on the ground to slip the ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. He held her face in his hands and kissed her slowly and passionately. Elena returned the kiss and never wanted to pull away.

Damon ended it and hugged her tightly. As he hugged her, he whispered in her ear, "You're mine forever and I'm yours forever."

Elena pulled him into another kiss after he whispered into her ear, making sure he didn't end the kiss so quickly. Everyone continued to cheer around them for the New Year but that didn't stop them. Elena and Damon only cared about each other and were excited to start their life together as husband and wife.

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><p>And now it's all over.<p>

Thank you all so much for your reviews, for your subscriptions, for everything! I'm so happy that you guys liked my story and I hope you like my other story just as much. Your reviews and everything else means so much to me. I love you guys!


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